The British Association of Private Dentistry (BAPD) represents private dentistry across the UK and promotes excellence in dental care for all patients.
With access to dental care continuing to be a challenge in the UK, it is clear that private dentistry is an integral part of dental healthcare provision in this country. It is vital therefore, that it is recognised as such by government and policy makers, and should be part of any future healthcare plans and decision-making.
Millions of patients rely on the quality of care and choice available from UK private dentistry. We aim to protect this choice.
By providing a safe and dedicated platform to discuss standards and protocols unique to private dentistry, we aim to drive quality.
It’s that time of year again when your annual BAPD membership subscriptions are due. We are always grateful to those who renew and would like to remind you how crucial your continued membership is for the Association.
We are now entering our fourth year of existence and are proud to have developed from our initial beginnings in the Covid epidemic into the recognised voice for Private Dentistry in the UK. Our mission has gone far beyond that crisis, and we constantly and consistently seek to promote quality dentistry, influence policy and decisions which affect us, and protect the interests of private practice.
We have key stakeholder status with the GDC, the CQC, and the Professional Standards Authority, as we originally set out to do. We continue to represent our members’ views and positions with these organisations on a regular basis. We have contributed fully to every consultation held by the GDC since 2021, and have been especially forthright in our views, especially with regards to the planned ARF increase in 2021-2, which in the end did not occur. We have also been vocal in drawing the attention of the GDC to their text communications regarding the annual ARF payments in December, which has resulted in an agreement by them to make their communications far clearer in the cases of failed card payments through their website. More recently we have taken the GDC to task over the way they handled communications with the family of a deceased registrant. We have contributed to the discussions regarding indemnity reforms, changes in the scope of practice of Hygienists/Therapists, and direct to consumer treatment safety. You can be assured we will continue to hold regulators to account when we learn of such issues.
We have secured our own platforms at all of the major dental shows, providing speakers focussing on the political, legal, and quality aspects of Private Dentistry.
All this has been done with a team of dedicated volunteers on our committees, none of whom receive any stipend or sessional payments for their time. Each and every one of them share the same passion for ensuring Private Dentistry is represented powerfully and vocally.
As a completely non-profit organisation, all the membership funds are made available solely for work the BAPD has done, continues to do, and hopes to do in the future.
It is however often challenging to deal with all the issues Private Dentistry faces without the ability to fund professional opinion and access commercial products in order to carry out the work that which to be done. This is why we need your continued membership at what we feel is a modest cost for the work that we do.
Please help us to ensure the voice of Private Dentistry endures and continues to be heard.
With your membership:
• We can continue to engage directly with the GDC, CQC, and other regulatory bodies to ensure the Private Sector’s concerns are not ignored or sidelined. Without our representation, the unique challenges of private practice may be overlooked.
• We can continue to advocate for quality dentistry. Our commitment to raising clinical standards benefits not only the profession but our patients. By being a member of the BAPD you are helping to support those initiatives to drive higher standards across the profession
• We will continue to support and guide our members, whether it is converting to private practice, or helping to ensure quality in patient outcomes. The BAPD provides its members with invaluable resources and guidance that help you navigate the complexities of private practice
• We can continue to provide access to our exclusive webinars, newsletters, and events, and provide ongoing education and connection with like-minded professionals. The association also champions young dentists, ensuring the next generation is equipped for success in Private Dentistry.
As more and more practitioners find themselves having to look outside the NHS for job satisfactions, security, and their own wellbeing, it is vital the BAPD continues to empower the profession together with, and for its members.
With an unwavering commitment to protecting and supporting private dentistry in the UK, the board
focused on two fundamental strategic objectives:
These are not just aspirations; they signify a proactive shift in how the BAPD will champion the profession. The outcome of the meeting was a clear and actionable roadmap designed to ensure that these objectives lead to real, measurable change.
Dentistry in the UK stands at a crossroads. The profession is under increasing pressure from regulatory complexities, public misconceptions, and a lack of systemic support. The BAPD recognises that meaningful progress lies in constructive challenge rather than confrontation. By fostering open and honest communication with regulators such as the General Dental Council (GDC) and Care Quality Commission (CQC), we can help remove the fear and uncertainty that currently overshadow the profession, ensuring a fairer regulatory framework and better patient outcomes
It was always our intention that the bigger picture of Private Dentistry needed to be considered once the pandemic was over, and particularly how an agenda promoting Quality Dentistry could be adopted.
Another priority was the need to challenge and question our regulators. Our original intent to become a stakeholder in all our conversations which involved dentistry has been fully realised. We accepted we would need to restrict our position on NHS Dentistry to how it affects Private Dentistry and not try to be involved in NHS contract discussions.
We do however believe it is our responsibility to our members to be informed of what is happening in the NHS, and how this might affect the dental market on the larger scale.
We continue to be in regular contact with high level representatives of the GDC and are one of the members of the Dental Leadership Network, facilitated by the GDC. We have always had a reputation for direct speaking, and our opinions are always aired at these meetings without us holding back. As one of our original long-term goals was to have a direct route of communication with the GDC, we are pleased this happened so early in our existence and still continues regularly.
Much of what is discussed at meetings has to remain confidential if the BAPD is to continue to be invited. However, members can be reassured the BAPD will always robustly question regulators and put across the views of its members as the board sees fit.
Whilst the BAPD’s remit is not to get involved with the NHS per se, we have made it clear if the legislative duty of the GDC is to protect the public, then to not criticise such a flawed system (and not the people who work in it) can be seen as a failure of the GDC’s remit. There is a political difficulty for the GDC being seen to take a critical position on this, so it is probably unlikely criticism of the system will ever be heard publicly from the GDC.
In addition, we have discussed the problem with ‘Direct to Consumer’ orthodontic treatments and asked searching questions as to why the GDC seemed unable to act, when it was clear to the profession patient safety was an issue, especially with the demise of one of the largest providers of this service.
These are all issues that we continue to press the GDC on and will press further in the future.
We have also contributed as an association to all of the recent GDC consultations, including indemnity and insurance, the GDC’s strategic plan, and the revision of the scope of practice of Hygienist/therapists.
The same is true of our involvement with the CQC. We have attended multiple meetings and observed how the new forms of inspection were likely to develop. It is challenging to influence organisations such as this given their remit is written in legislation so has a lack of flexibility by its very nature. However, without the input of all the branches of dentistry especially the growing private sector, then it is possible subtle details might be missed when any new methods of inspection were introduced.
We maintain an attendance all the major dental exhibitions and shows and have been fortunate to secure our own lecture theatres which have concentrated more on the political, legal, and quality side of dentistry rather than clinical talks.
We recognise there is often a lack of information regarding topics such as types of indemnity, how to convert a practice to private, and what Quality Dentistry actually means.
Whilst we might not be as strident a voice in public as we may have been during the pandemic, we are still being heard, hopefully with a depth and maturity which belies the age of the association.
The British Association of Private Dentistry is wholly non-profit. We rely on subscriptions to enable our work. Support us by joining as a member and help us to empower private dentistry.
Patients expect high quality care and Regulators expect high quality care.The BAPD will work to ensure all aspects affecting patient care, especially clinical treatment, allow for the delivery of quality dentistry that patients want and that the entire profession can be proud of.
“Quality is never an accident, it is always the result of intelligent effort”
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