UNITED KINGDOM: The General Dental Council’s Dental Leadership Network event took place recently, to find out what leading members in the dental profession think about the recent GDC updates and the issues the sector is facing.
Chair of the GDC, Lord Toby Harris, welcomed the audience and highlighted the itinerary for the day.
‘Words will be nothing without actions’, he said.
An insightful panel discussion took place where several leaders in dentistry, including Nishma Sharma, chair of the Diversity in Dentistry Action Group, Tom Riall, CEO of Mydentist and Dominika Krowiarz, deputy president of the Dental Technologists Association, took part in raising their concerns regarding the future of dentistry.
Furthermore, Professor Chris Tredwin, chair of the Dental Schools Council, and Tom Ferris, chief dental officer for Scotland were also on the panel.
The panel answered some of the participants' questions and highlighted some of their own points. Topics included the importance of unity in taking action for the profession, the need for a dental workforce survey and how to tackle challenges with recruitment and retention.
Nishma discussed the values of a good leader. This included knowing each individual’s strengths and distributing tasks, leading with core values and leading through action.
‘There can be leadership without hierarchy’, she stated, alluding to dental nurses being highly undervalued in their roles.
