New European Alert Mechanism welcomed by dental industry

The implementation of the new European Alert Mechanism in the dental industry has been welcomed as a positive move for the sector.

Covering the whole European Economic Area, the mechanism gives regulators the power to identify dental professionals who have been banned from practising to regulatory bodies in other European countries.

This will help to improve transparency and decrease the risk of potentially unsafe practice, making it easy to identify restricted professionals by name, date and place of birth, and to view information on the nature of their ban.

Michaela ONeill, president of the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy, said: "I see this leading to better standards when it comes to dentistry, and that means better practices and overall happier patients."

Meanwhile, Dr Nigel Carter, chief executive of the British Dental Health Foundation, said it will help offer more protection to those engaging in so-called "dental tourism", as it will offer greater guarantees of safe treatment across Europe.