EUROPEAN DENTISTS ADOPT POLICY ON VOCATIONAL TRAINING, ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE AND ONLINE EVALUATIONS OF DENTISTS, DECIDE ON THE THEME OF THE EUROPEAN ORAL HEALTH DAY 2014
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Representatives of CED member and observer organisations met in Athens, Greece on 23 and 24 May 2014 for a regular six-monthly General Meeting, under the chairmanship of CED President Dr. Wolfgang Doneus. The meeting was hosted by the Hellenic Dental Association, in the context of the Greek EU Presidency. The meeting started with a welcome address by the Greek Minister of Health, Mr Spyridon Adonis Georgiadis. The CED representatives were also welcomed by the President of the Hellenic Dental Association, Dr Athanasios Katsikis.
The Council of European Dentists (CED) is a European not-for-profit association which represents over 340,000 practising dentists through 32 national dental associations and chambers from 30 European countries. Its key objectives are to promote high standards of oral healthcare and effective patient-safety centred professional practice across Europe, including through regular contacts with other European organisations and EU institutions.

VOCATIONAL TRAINING
During the plenary session, Members of the CED unanimously adopted a Resolution on vocational training (VT). CED Members stressed that VT is not aimed at providing knowledge which is already part of the basic dental training, neither to question the ability of new graduates to practise dentistry, but to help them implement the theoretical knowledge into practice and equip them with more clinical and managerial experience for a better overall patient management in an independent environment.

The CED recognizes that health systems delivering oral healthcare are different across the European Union and considers the recommendations set out in the Resolution as a tool which can be adapted and used on a voluntary basis according to each CED Member’s national legal framework, higher education system, professional practice model as well as requirements of the modernised Directive 2005/36/EC.
The Resolution is the result of fruitful work of the CED Working Group Education and Professional Qualifications which until the CED General Meeting in Athens was led by Prof. Dr. Konstantinos Oulis. Prof. Dr. Oulis stepped down as Working Group chair during the General Meeting. The CED would like to express its deepest gratitude for all his valuable work and commitment to the CED and the dental profession for many years. CED representatives appointed Prof. Dr. Paulo Melo as a new Working Group chair.

ANTIMICROBIAL RESISTANCE
CED Members unanimously adopted a Resolution on antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The European dentists acknowledge the importance of the use of antibiotics in dentistry, as they account for a broad majority of medicines prescribed in dentistry.
The CED is concerned with the serious consequence of AMR which will no longer allow to prevent or treat some infections. CED Members believe that it is essential in terms of both public and oral health that dentists prescribe antibiotics in a responsible way.

ONLINE EVALUATIONS OF DENTISTS
CED Members adopted a Resolution on online evaluations of dentists. The Resolution is a response to the rise, in recent years, in popularity of websites allowing patients to submit online reviews rating their local dental practice or individual dentist. The CED supports patients’ feedback to help dentists maintain high standards and quality and improve patient experience in their practices. However, the European dentists are concerned with websites posting anonymous reviews which lack of moderation. Therefore, the CED recommends some quality criteria for online evaluation of dentists in order to ensure that patients are provided with fair and accurate information.

EUROPEAN ORAL HEALTH DAY 2014
CED Board recommended to CED Member Associations to focus on the theme “Oral health and diabetes” on the occasion of the European Oral Health Day on 12 September 2014. The choice of the theme was guided by the dramatic increase during the last decade of the number of people suffering from diabetes and rather poor public awareness of how to prevent oral disease in diabetes patients. This presents a unique opportunity to raise awareness about the links between diabetes and oral health and about the important role dentists can and increasingly do play in early diagnosing and management of treatment of diabetes across the EU.

For more information contact:
CED Brussels Office
Tel: + 32 2 736 34 29
ced@eudental.eu
http://www.eudental.eu