British Dental Association

British Dental Association

Abbreviation	BDA
Formation	1880
Type	Professional body
Legal status	Non-profit company, Special register body and registered charity
Purpose	Dentistry in the UK
Headquarters	64 Wimpole Street, Marylebone, W1G 8YS
Region served	UK
Chief Executive	Peter Ward
Main organ	BDA Principal Executive Committee (Chair - Mick Armstrong)
Website	BDA

The British Dental Association (BDA) is the largest voluntary membership organisation for dentists in the UK.

Structure

The majority of the BDA’s 22,000 members are family dentists, working in general practice providing both National Health Service (NHS) and private care. BDA members also work in community and hospital settings, universities and the British armed forces.

The BDA’s headquarters is in Wimpole Street, London near Queen's College, London in the City of Westminster and it currently has offices in Stirling, Scotland, Belfast, Northern Ireland and Cardiff, Wales.

History

The Dental Reform Committee formed the BDA in 1880, and Sir John Tomes was the first President. The Dental Act 1921 created the Dental Board of the UK, whose functions have been taken over by the General Dental Council since 1956. The BDA headquarters were opened by the Queen in March 1967.

In 2002 "The close focus on productivity by the UK Dental Practice Board produced savings to the taxpayer of more than £100 million over 14 years."^[1]

Function

The organisation represents dentists at national and local level, ensuring that the views and concerns of the profession are high on the political and public agenda.

The BDA promotes good practice and patient care, and provides members with expert advice in all aspects of practice, management and opportunities for continuing professional development.

The organisation is also a scientific society promoting higher standards (often in co-operation with other organisations) and improvements in the oral health of the nation.

The BDA performs statistical analysis on dentists for research groups to analyze their techniques.^[2]

Publications

It has the most comprehensive collection of dental literature in Europe and subscribes to over 200 dental journals and provides members with free Medline searches. The BDA produces regular dental publications, including the British Dental Journal (for clinical articles and jobs) and BDA News (for news and views).

Regulation of dentists

The BDA is not the regulatory body for dentists in the United Kingdom. Dentists are regulated by the General Dental Council.

British Dental Association Museum

Its museum in Wimpole Street holds the largest collection of dental material in Britain. It includes dental instruments, equipment, furniture, photographs, archives, fine and decorative art. The museum is maintained as a national resource for the dental profession, dental industry, researchers and members of the public and aims to promote an appreciation of dentistry today through an understanding of its past. The museum is located at BDA Headquarters at 64 Wimpole Street, London W1G 8YS. Museum website. The museum is a member of the London Museums of Health & Medicine.

British Dental Association Library

The British Dental Association has a Library which opened to members in its new Wimpole Street location in 1967 (however the library was established at one of the BDA's previous locations in 1920 by Lilian Lindsay, its first Honorary Librarian). It is the most comprehensive dental library in Europe, and is open from Monday to Friday, from 9am-6pm (until 7pm on a Wednesday). Admission is free to members. It is not open to non-members except for bona fide academic researchers and then by prior appointment only.

The Library is located at BDA Headquarters Telephone: 020 7563 4545 http://www.bda.org/library

See also

• British Society of Dental Hygiene & Therapy

References

External links

• Official site