Abstract
Welcome to this issue on TMD. The TMJ often conjures up thoughts and promotes discussion centring around education that reflects the famous quote often attributed to Aristotle, “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.”
On that theme, I am delighted that the College has now inaugurated the first Deans of its faculties, which develop its work in support of each dental team role. Formation of the faculties was one of the founding ambitions of the College and remains one of the unique features of the College within the whole of healthcare. I am sure you will all join me in congratulating and wishing well our inaugural Deans, Dr Debbie Reed FCGDent, Bill Sharpling FCGDent, Professor Avijit Banerjee FCGDent and Poppy Dunton.
I would also like to offer my congratulations to Dr Catherine Rutland FCGDent and Professor Andrew Eder FCGDent, who have been appointed as Trustees of the College; to Dr Ralph Pickup FCGDent on his recent election to the College Council; to Professor Chris Tredwin FCGDent on being honoured with an MBE; and to Dr Wendy Thompson FCGDent on her IADR Distinguished Scientist Award.
Members and Fellows will be aware that we have recently published our revised criteria for Fellowship. These reflect the evolving career choices being made that offer practitioners possibilities for a ‘portfolio career’ complementing their clinical practice. Our revised criteria therefore extend beyond qualifications and assessment and look to experience as well as equivalent accreditation of a determined standard, and can help members chart a more natural career progression. We are also extending this approach to our Associate Fellowship criteria, and to new Fellowships which will soon be launched in Dental Nursing, Orthodontic Therapy, Dental Hygiene, Dental Therapy, Dental Technology and Clinical Dental Technology.
Our members outside the UK are an important and growing constituency of the College, and we have also recently published an updated policy on acceptance of Indian postgraduate qualifications. Most significantly, dentists with an MDS (Master of Dental Surgery) or PhD from a higher education institution recognised by the Dental Council of India are now eligible for Associate Fellowship by default, without the need to submit their transcripts to UK ENIC.
These are all historic developments, and there will be more to come as we approach the fifth anniversary of the College. However, such achievements would not have become possible without the efforts of those who established and developed our predecessor organisations; we are, to borrow the title of a document published on the former FGDP(UK)’s tenth anniversary, ‘standing on the shoulders of giants’. With that in mind, and as we anticipate the thirty-fifth anniversary next year of the founding of the FGDP in 1992, I am delighted that we are introducing a new College History section to the PDJ with an article recording the many challenges that involved.
CGDent Scotland’s annual study day on Friday 5 December 2025, at which delegates updated their knowledge on periodontics and oral cancer, was a sell-out yet again, and Dr Patricia Thomson FCGDent has written a review in this issue. This year’s event on Friday 4 December, Digital Dentistry for the Dental Team, is now open for booking and members from across the UK and elsewhere are welcome to attend.
On 5 February we celebrated 20 years of the first publication of Training Standards in Implant Dentistry. The event was well attended with enthusiasm for our emerging career pathways in Implant Dentistry and thoughtful discussion around education and standard setting as well as an update on the imminent publication of the newly amalgamated Training and Mentoring Standards in Implant Dentistry. I am immensely grateful to Dr Abhi Pal FCGDent and Dr Sami Stagnell AssocFCGDent for hosting the event.
In the evening we hosted our Winter Reception, at which we celebrated winners of the Tom Bereznicki Award, admitted new Associate Fellows and Fellows, presented our new Past Presidents’ Medals and conferred our newly inscribed College Medals to recipients from our first five years. I am grateful to Sir Nairn Wilson CBE, who has worked tirelessly to raise funds for our Coat of Arms Appeal, and to all those who donated to the appeal, which funded the new medals among many other things.
I am looking forward to celebrating the College’s impending fifth anniversary, and the achievements of our latest Associate Fellows and Fellows, at our 2026 Summer Reception, which will take place on 25 June in the wonderful Cutlers’ Hall in London. Before the reception we will also be holding the second annual College Lecture, ‘The Ethical Shield: Protecting enamel, professional integrity and patient smiles’, which will be given by Dr Catherine Rutland FCGDent.
The CGDent Midlands Study Club has recently held evenings dedicated to periodontics, cracks and dental pain, dental photography, implant restoration, implant after-care and toothwear. This excellent series is free for College members and continues over the summer with events focussing on aesthetic and adhesive dentistry (17 June), restorative and caries management (24 July), and endodontics (17 August).
The next cohort of the CGDent Diploma in Primary Care Orthodontics starts in June, and I would like to highlight to Fellows and Associate Fellows of the College that they can complete an MSc in General Dental Practice in one year of part-time distance study through Aston University, which is enrolling now for the next academic year. I am also delighted to inform members that, following the success of last year’s event, Professor Sree Koka FCGDent and Dr Elizabeth Carr FCGDent will be running another Leadership Development Masterclass on Thursday 24 September in London.
Our partnership with College Fellow Tom Bereznicki’s charitable foundation, through which we support the development of skills and confidence among early career dental professionals, continues to strengthen. The new Tom Bereznicki Award for Tooth Wear Cases recognises skills and patient care in restorative and aesthetic dentistry and will offer up to 20 successful entrants a one-day injection moulding course. The latest of three competitions we run together, entry is open until 10 August. This year’s Tom Bereznicki Award for Advanced Aesthetic Dentistry also remains open until 8 June, and Dr Victoria Kit-mun Hillson, one of last year’s winners, describes it in this issue. And the excellent Introduction to Occlusion Symposium, run last year in both London and Edinburgh, is travelling to Manchester on 24 October. Starting in this issue, we are instituting a new section in the PDJ capturing all these events and awards, and I would encourage members at all career stages to familiarise themselves with these opportunities and to bring them to the attention of young colleagues.
Further information on all the initiatives above can be found later in this issue, and details and booking for the events at
I would now like to take this opportunity to thank you for your ongoing support and continued faith in the College. I look forward to engaging with more of you throughout the year and working with you to build on even more opportunities as we continue to grow our College and aspire to Royal Charter.
I hope that you will now enjoy reading the impressive set of papers, brought together by our Guest Editor Dr Ziad Al-Ani to be truly applicable to general dental practice.
Roshni Karia