Neil Carmichael, executive chair of the ADG, travelled to India to take part in a series of meetings. A successful outcome from a session with the host university, SRM Kattankulathur Dental College in Chennai, delivered an agreement in principle to support a UK-backed training programme for dental students. The programme is intended to train students in India so they are ready for the Overseas Registration Examination (ORE) to enable them to work within the NHS whilst living in the UK.
Gauri Pradhan, founder, honorary secretary and trustee of IDO–UK and practice owner of SGA Dental Group, said, “With a focus on resolving the NHS shortage, during our visit to Chennai, we attended a key conference and visited SRM University, where we are in discussions to establish a structured training programme. This initiative aims to equip SRM dental graduates with the necessary skills to meet UK standards, ensuring a steady flow of high-quality dentists ready to contribute to NHS and private dentistry.”
The Association of Dental Groups members, who run over 2,000 dental practices up and down the UK, are deeply concerned about the significant gap in the dental workforce which currently means that over 3,000 vacant positions for dentists remain unfilled. The association has said that recent UK government announcements to deliver a scheme designed to enable 700,000 extra urgent care appointments remains impractical if the dental workforce isn’t boosted.
Shivani Bhandari, founder and trustee of IDO–UK and practice owner of SGA Dental Group, said, “Supporting overseas dentists is important and once these graduates arrive in the UK, IDO-UK will provide comprehensive support, including housing assistance, mental wellbeing resources, and guidance on adapting to the UK’s healthcare system and culture. Our commitment is to ensure a smooth transition, helping them integrate seamlessly into their new professional and personal lives.”
Another linked event was the annual meeting of the International College of Dentistry (ICD) (Section VI, consisting of India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal). This session provided an important opportunity to meet with dental school leaders and academics in international dentistry.
Neil Carmichael, executive chair of the ADG, said, “I was very grateful to be accompanied at the meetings by two knowledgeable ADG members, Shivani Bhandari and Gauri Pradhan – and the resulting discussions to boost the UK’s dental workforce through a training collaboration with India is hugely positive. We cannot hope to see significant progress in getting dentistry back on its feet without focusing on plugging the 3,000 plus gap in the workforce. Our members are telling us that currently there are only approximately 20 trained registered dentists in the UK looking for work, so it is clear we need to turn abroad to ease the crisis. We look forward to participating in the follow up conversations which are planned for early March 2025 so we can flesh-out the details.”