| ADA |
American Dental Association |
| ADEE |
Association for Dental Education in Europe |
| BADN |
British Association of Dental Nurses |
| BADT |
British Association of Dental Therapists |
| BAOMS |
British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons |
| BChD |
Bachelor of Dental Surgery (a basic degree); equivalent to a BDS or BDentS |
| BDentS |
Bachelor of Dental Surgery (a basic degree); equivalent to a BChD or BDS |
| BDA |
British Dental Association |
| BDHF |
British Dental Health Foundation (a charity) |
| BDJ |
British Dental Journal (the journal of the BDA – shown in academic references as Br Dent J) |
| BDPMA |
British Dental Practice Managers’ Association |
| BDS |
Bachelor of Dental Surgery (a basic degree); equivalent to a BChD or BDentS |
| BSDHT |
British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy |
| BSGDS |
British Society of General Dental Surgery |
| CDTA |
Clinical Dental Technicians Association |
| CDO |
Chief Dental Officer (e.g. of England) |
| CDPH |
Consultant in Dental Public Health |
| CMDS |
Core Minimum Data Sets |
| CME |
Continuing Medical (& Dental) Education |
| CMO |
Chief Medical Officer (e.g. England) |
| COCET |
Committee on Continuing Education and Training (set up by the CDO of England) (pronounced as a word) |
| CODE |
Confederation of Dental Employees |
| COPDenD |
Conference of Postgraduate Dental Deans (and Directors of Postgraduate Dental Education in the Universities of the UK) (pronounced as a word) |
| COPMED |
Committee of Postgraduate Medical Deans (England) (pronounced as a word) |
| COSHH |
Control of Substances Hazardous to Health (1988 Regulations) |
| CPD |
Continuing Professional Development |
| CPE |
Continuing Professional Education |
| CPR |
Cardio-Pulmonary Resuscitation |
| CRDC |
Central Research & Development Committee (at NHSE HQ) |
| CRE |
Commission for Racial Equality |
| CSA |
Central Services Agency (a Northern Ireland body equivalent to the DPB in England and Wales) |
| CSASHS |
Common Services Agency for the Scottish Health Service. (Provides services e.g. Dental Practice Division, to Health Boards) |
| CSO |
Central Statistical Officer |
| CST |
Certificate of Specialist Training |
| CV |
Curriculum Vitae |
| CVCP |
Committee of Vice Chancellors and Principals |
| CVT |
Committee on Vocational Training for England & Wales |
| CVT (NI) |
Committee on Vocational Training for Northern Ireland |
| DAGMETS |
Dental Advisory Group on Medicine, Education, Training & Staffing |
| DDA |
Defence Dental Agency |
| DDO |
District Dental Officer |
| DDPH |
Diploma in Dental Public Health |
| DDRB |
Doctors’ and Dentists’ Review Body |
| DDSc |
Doctor of Dental Science |
| DDU |
Dental Defence Union (of the MDU) |
| DfEE |
Department for Education & Employment |
| DGDP |
Diploma in General Dental Practice |
| DGH |
District General Hospital |
| DH |
Department of Health (DOH or DoH as abbreviations are incorrect) |
| DLA |
Dental Laboratories Association |
| DMFT(S) dmft(s) |
Decayed, Missing or Filled Permanent Teeth (Surfaces), if shown in lower case as dmft (s) means decayed, missing or filled deciduous teeth surfaces |
| DNA |
Did Not Attend |
| DO |
Dental Officer |
| dob |
Date of Birth |
| DOrth |
Diploma in Orthodontics |
| DPA |
Dental Practice Advisor |
| DPB |
Dental Practice Board |
| DPDH |
Director of Public Dental Health |
| DPDS |
Diploma in Postgraduate Dental Studies |
| DPF |
Dental Practitioners’ Formulary |
| DPN |
dental practice network |
| DRC |
Day-Release Course (the VDP’s study day course of 30 days) |
| DRO |
Dental Reference Officer |
| DRS |
Dental Reference Service |
| DRSG |
Dental Rates Study Group |
| DSA |
Dental Surgery Assistant |
| DSC |
Dental Schools Council |
| DSM |
Dental Services Manager |
| DTA |
Dental Technicians’ Association |
| DVTA |
Dental Vocational Training Authority (England & Wales) |
| DVTA Panel |
Dental Vocational Training Adjudication Panel (of NICPMDE) |
| EBM |
Evidence Based Medicine |
| EC |
European Commission, or European Community (This term was used for the whole integration process of the European Union prior to the Maastricht Treaty on 1 November 1993, when the tem ‘European Union’ came into being). |
| EDI |
Electronic Data Interchange, or Eastman Dental Institute |
| EDM |
Effective Dental Management (a training module) |
| EEA |
European Economic Area (current members are: Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein and the 15 member States of the EU as individual countries. The EU, as a separate entity or body, is also party to the EEA Agreement which is a free trade agreement between the member States) |
| EEC |
European Economic Community (earlier name for the EC) |
| EFTA |
European Free Trade Association (now comprises 4 member States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland) |
| EL |
Executive Letter |
| E-learning |
Electronic Learning (Computer-based learning – including internet-based learning) |
| EU |
European Union (Came into being following the Maastricht Treaty on 01 November 1993, originally comprising 12 member States: Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and UK. Joined by Austria, Finland and Sweden in 1995. Ten more member states will join in 2004 - Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) |
| FDS |
Faculty of Dental Surgery, or Fellow in Dental Surgery |
| FGDP(UK) |
Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (United Kingdom) |
| FFGDP(UK) |
Fellow of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (UK) |
| FHS |
Family Health Services |
| FHSA |
Family Heath Services Authority (now merged with HA’s) |
| FTE |
Full Time Equivalent |
| FMR |
Functions and Manpower Review |
| FT or f/t |
Full Time |
| FTTA |
Fixed Term Training Appointment |
| GA |
General Anaesthetic |
| GDC |
General Dental Council |
| GDP |
General Dental Practice, or General Dental Practitioner, or Gross Domestic Product |
| GDPA |
General Dental Practitioners’ Association |
| GDPC |
General Dental Practice Committee (replaced GDSC & PPC in 2003) |
| GDS |
General Dental Services |
| GDSC |
General Dental Services Committee (of the BDA) |
| GI |
Gingival Index |
| GIS |
Government Information Service |
| GMC |
General Medical Council |
| GMP |
General Medical Practitioner |
| GMS |
General Medical Services |
| GMSC |
General Medical Services Committee (of the BDA) |
| GP |
General Practitioner |
| GPFH |
General Practitioner Fund Holder |
| GPT |
General Professional Training |
| HA |
Health Authority |
| HB |
Health Board |
| HC |
Health Circular |
| HDS |
Hospital Dental Services |
| HEFCE |
Higher Education Funding Council for England |
| HEFCS |
Higher Education Funding Council for Scotland |
| HEFCW |
Higher Education Funding Council for Wales |
| HMSO |
Her Majesty’s Stationery Office |
| HN |
Health Notice |
| HO |
House Officer |
| HSE |
Health and Safety Executive |
| HSWA |
Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 |
| HSL |
Health Services Letter |
| .html |
Hypertext mark-up language |
| http:// |
Hypertext transfer protocol |
| IM&T |
Information Management and Technology |
| ICT |
Information and Communications Technology (now commonly replaces the term IT (Information Technology) because of the large growth of email and internet-based communications) |
| IMPT |
Institute of Maxillofacial Prosthetists and Technicians |
| IoS |
Item of Service (e.g. Adult item of services, child item of service) |
| IPC |
Independent Practice Committee (of the BDA) |
| IPGs |
Independent Practice Groups (local groups not necessarily allied to IPC) |
| IV |
Intravenous |
| JCC |
Joint Consultants’ Committee, or Joint Consultative Committee |
| JCHTD |
Joint Committee for Higher Training in Dentistry (now JCSTD) |
| JCPTGP |
Joint Committee for Postgraduate Training in General Practice (Based at RCGP) |
| JCSTD |
Joint Committee for Specialist Training in Dentistry (of the dental faculties of the Royal Colleges - based at RCSEng) |
| JPAC |
Joint Planning Advisory Committee |
| KITS |
Keeping in Touch Scheme |
| LAPRAP |
Local Audit & Peer Review Assessment Panel |
| LAS |
Locum Appointment – Service |
| LAT |
Locum Appointment – Training |
| LDC |
Local Dental Committee |
| LDS |
Licentiate in Dental Surgery (a basic qualification) |
| LIG |
London Implementation Group |
| LIZ |
London Initiative Zone |
| LMC |
Local Medical Committee |
| LMWAGs |
Local Medical Workforce Advisory Groups |
| MADEL |
Medical & Dental Education Levy |
| MCCD |
Membership in Clinical Community Dentistry |
| MChD |
Master of Dental Surgery |
| MDentSci |
Master of Dental Science |
| MDDUS |
Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland |
| MDS |
Master of Dental Surgery, or Minimum Data Set |
| MDU |
Medical Defence Union |
| MFDS |
Member of the Faculty of Dental Surgery |
| MFGDP(UK) |
Member of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners (UK) |
| MGDS |
Membership in General Dental Surgery |
| MIA |
Medical Insurance Agency Ltd |
| MOD |
Ministry of Defence, or Mesio-occlusodistal |
| MOrth |
Membership in Orthodontics |
| MPS |
Medical Protection Society (the dental part of which is Dental Protection Ltd) |
| MRC |
Medical Research Council |
| MRI |
Magnetic Resonance Imaging |
| N/A |
Not Applicable |
| NAC |
National Advice Centre for Postgraduate Dental Education |
| NAHAT |
National Association of Health Authorities and Trusts |
| NCAS |
National Clinical Assessment Service |
| NCCPED |
National Centre for Continuing Postgraduate Education in Dentistry |
| NHS |
National Health Service |
| NHSE |
National Health Service Executive |
| NI |
National Insurance, or Northern Ireland |
| NICPMDE |
Northern Ireland Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education |
| NICE |
National Institute for Clinical Excellence |
| NIDHSS |
Northern Ireland Department of Health and Social Services |
| NIGDSC |
Northern Ireland General Dental Services Committee |
| NOS |
National Occupational Standards |
| NPSA |
National Patient Safety Agency |
| NRPB |
National Radiological Protection Board (Dental Monitoring Services) |
| NTN |
National Training Number (held by specialist registrars) |
| NVQ |
National Vocational Qualification |
| O4C |
Options for Change |
| OFT |
Office of Fair Trading |
| ONS |
The Office for National Statistics |
| OPCS |
Office of Population Censuses and Surveys (now ONS) |
| OPT |
Orthpantomograph (a form of dental X-ray) (sometimes OPG is used but this is incorrect) |
| OSCE |
Objective Structured Clinical Examination |
| OU |
Open University |
| PAMs |
Professions Allied to Medicine |
| PBL |
Problem Based Learning |
| PCDs |
Professions Complementary to Dentistry, or Professionals Complementary to Dentistry |
| PCTs |
Primary Care Trusts |
| PDC |
Primary Dental Care |
| PDP |
Personal Development Plan, or Professional Development Portfolio |
| PDS |
Personal Dental Services |
| PDU |
Preventive Dentistry Unit |
| PES |
Public Expenditure Survey |
| PG |
Postgraduate |
| PGEA |
Postgraduate Education Allowance |
| PGMDE |
Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education |
| PI |
Performance Indicator, or Periodontal Index |
| PLAB |
Professional and Linguistic Assessments Board |
| PMC |
Postgraduate Medical Centre |
| PPC |
Private Practice Committee |
| PRHO |
Pre-Registration House Officer (medical only) |
| Prn |
Whenever necessary |
| PT or p/t |
Part Time |
| QA |
Quality Assurance |
| QAA |
Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education |
| QCA |
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority (England and Wales) |
| R&D |
Research and Development |
| RAGMETS |
Regional Advisory Group on Medicine, Education, Training and Staffing |
| RCGP |
Royal College of General Practitioners |
| RCP |
retruded contact position |
| RCPS Glasg |
Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow |
| RCS Edin |
Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh |
| RCS Eng |
Royal College of Surgeons of England |
| RCS Irel |
Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland |
| RDO |
Regional Dental Officer |
| RDOS |
Regional Dental Officer Service (the Scottish version of DRS) |
| RDRD |
Regional Director of Research and Development |
| REDG |
Regional Education and Development Group |
| RHA |
Regional Health Authority (extant until 31 March 1996) |
| RITA |
Record of In-Training Assessment |
| RLG |
Research Liaison Group |
| RPD |
removable partial denture |
| RVTC |
Regional Vocational Training Committee |
| SAC |
Specialist Advisory Committee of the JCSTD |
| SAMS |
Self-Assessment Manual and Standards (no longer in print; now replaced by Standards in Dentistry)
|
| SCUMDERS |
Standing Committee on University Medical and Dental Education and Research (pronounced as a word) |
| SCOPME |
Standing Committee on Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education (pronounced as a word) |
| SCPMDE |
Scottish Council for Postgraduate Medical and Dental Education |
| SDAC |
Standing Dental Advisory Committee |
| SDL |
Self-Directed Learning |
| SDO |
Senior Dental Officer |
| SDR |
Statement of Dental Remuneration |
| SDVTC |
Scottish Dental Vocational Training Committee (of SCPMDE) |
| SDVTECC |
Scottish Dental Vocational Training Equivalence and Certification Committee (of SCPMDE) |
| SHHD |
Scottish Home and Health Department |
| SHO |
Senior House Officer |
| SI |
Statutory Instrument |
| SIFTR |
Service Increment for Teaching & Research |
| SMP |
Statutory Maternity Pay |
| SNTN |
Scottish National Training Number (the Scottish equivalent of NTN) |
| SQA |
Scottish Qualifications Authority |
| SpR |
Specialist Registrar |
| STA |
Specialist Training Authority of the medical Royal Colleges |
| STC |
Specialty Training Committee |
| SSP |
Statutory Sick Pay |
| Supn |
Superannuation |
| SVQ |
Scottish Vocational Qualification |
| SWAG |
Specialist Workforce Advisory Group |
| TAGI |
Target Annual Gross Income (for GDPs working in the GDS) |
| TANI |
Target Annual Net Income (for GDPs working in the GDS) |
| TMJ |
Temporomandibular Joint |
| TQM |
Total Quality Management |
| UK |
United Kingdom |
| UMT |
Unit of Medical Time |
| URL |
Uniform Resource Locator |
| UUK |
Universities United Kingdom (formerly the Committee of Vice Chancellors & Principles). |
| UV |
ultraviolet |
| VDP |
Vocational Dental Practitioner (the name for trainee dentists) |
| VDU |
Visual Display Unit |
| VSpR |
Visiting Specialist Registrar |
| VT |
Vocational Training, or Vocational Trainee |
|
| VTN |
Visiting Training Number (held by visiting specialist registrars) |
| VTS |
Vocation Training Scheme |
| WAGMETS |
Welsh Advisory Group on Medicine, Education, Training & Staffing (pronounced as a word)
|
| WDC |
Workforce Development Confederation |
| WGDSC |
Welsh General Dental Services Committee |
| WHCSA |
Welsh Health Common Services Agency |
| WTE |
Whole-Time Equivalent |
| WWW |
World Wide Web |