BDA slams GDC chair for comparing dentistry to retail

The British Dental Association (BDA) has criticised the chair of the General Dental Council (GDC) for drawing unhelpful comparisons between the dental and retail sectors.

Bill Moyes, the recently-installed GDC chair, recently told the Times he would welcome a wider spectrum of dental services, ranging from cheaper economy-focused offerings to premium-priced providers.

However, his description of this as a "Lidl to Waitrose" model has earned a rebuke from BDA chief executive Peter Ward in the latest edition of the British Dental Journal, who said dental practices cannot be likened to supermarkets in this way.

Mr Ward noted that the retail market does not need to deal with issues such as patient care, clinical quality and safety, making the comparison a worrying one from a patient protection standpoint.

He added: "Good dentistry is actually about relationships, trust and confidence between dentists and their patients. Seeking to oversimplify this by comparing patient care to the price of baked beans and sun-dried tomatoes completely misses the point."

This comes after the BDA and GDC publicly disagreed last year over the latter organisation's decision to introduce direct patient access to dental hygienists and therapists, a move the BDA objected to on safety grounds.