Dental Schools Council

The Dental Schools Council represents the interests of UK dental schools as it relates to national health, wealth, knowledge acquisition through teaching, research, and the profession of dentistry. Composed of the Dean or equivalent of each dental school in the UK, the current chair is Professor Callum Youngson, Head of the School of Dentistry at the University of Liverpool. The Dental Schools Council meet three times per year in February, June and October.

The Dental Schools Council began life as the Education Consultative Committee of the Dental Schools of Great Britain on 31 January 1931 when Mr W. Malcolm Knott (President of the British Dental Association in 1930) invited several Dental Deans to come together to discuss the formation of a Dental School Committee to discuss all matters relating to dental education. Twelve dental schools were represented at the first meeting, with each member donating one guinea to cover expenses. The first topic discussed was the recommendation of a General Medical Council to maintain dental standards in the United Kingdom. The Education Consultative Committee of the Dental Schools of Great Britain enabled the university staff to play a greater role in determining, co-ordinating and agreeing standards in the dental curriculum.

The Dental Schools Council has been referred to under many names since its formation. In 1932, a formal constitution was approved resulting in a new name - The Dental Education Advisory Committee of Great Britain and Ireland, which was later changed in 1937 to the Dental Education Advisory Council of Great Britain and Ireland (DEAC). In order to align itself with the Council of Heads of Medical Schools - now the Medical Schools Council - the DEAC changed its name in 1993 to the Council of Deans of Dental Schools (CDDS). However, it was later decided in 2005 that it was necessary to change the name to Council of Heads and Deans of Dental Schools to reflect that not all members of the organisation were given the title ‘Dean’. 2008 saw a final name change to the Dental Schools Council to reflect the expertise at all levels within the dental schools, from not only the Heads and Deans but also other dedicated staff members including admissions tutors, administrators and students themselves.

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