Plans secured for UK-backed training at Chennai dental college
Filling the 3,000 plus gap in the UK’s dental workforce was the driving force in the Association of Dental Group (ADG) Executive Chair, Neil Carmichael’s decision to travel to India last week to take part in a series of meetings. Following an invitation extended by the International Dental Organisation-UK (IDO-UK) to the ADG to attend discussions in Chennai, both played key roles in collaborating to help alleviate the NHS dental crisis.
A successful outcome from a session with the host university, SRM Kattankulthaur Dental College in Chennai delivered an agreement in principle to support a UK-backed training programme for dental students. The intent, which came out of discussions with the Dean of the College, Dr N Vivek and colleagues, is the idea of training students in India to be ready for the Overseas Registration Examination (ORE) to enable them to work with the NHS whilst living in the UK.
Another linked event during the trip to Chennai was the annual meeting of the International College of Dentistry (ICD) (Section VI, consisting of India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal). This session provided an important opportunity to meet with dental school leaders and academics in international dentistry. The International President, Ian M Doyle from Canada presided over several parts of the discussions.
ADG members, who run over 2,000 dental practices up and down the UK are deeply concerned about the significant gap in the dental workforce which currently means that over 3,000 vacant positions for dentists remain unfilled. Recent UK Government announcements to deliver a scheme designed to enable 700,000 extra urgent care appointments remains impractical if the dental workforce isn’t boosted.
The ADG is further buoyed by news reported in a recent article in The Hindu Times announcing the resumption of talks between commerce and industry minister, Piyush Goyal, and UK secretary of state for business and trade, Jonathan Reynolds. Discussions included a free trade agreement between UK and India, which will include social security and investment. A more liberal business visa regime, especially for graduating students is reported to be considered favourably by the UK.
Gauri Pradhan, Founder, Hon. Secretary and trustee IDO–UK and Practice Owner, SGA Dental group said “With a focus on resolving the NHS shortage, during our visit to Chennai, we attended a key conference and visited SRM University, where we are in discussions to establish a structured training programme. This initiative aims to equip SRM dental graduates with the necessary skills to meet UK standards, ensuring a steady flow of high-quality dentists ready to contribute to NHS and private dentistry.”
Shivani Bhandari, Founder and trustee IDO–UK and Practice Owner, SGA Dental group said: “Supporting overseas dentists is important and once these graduates arrive in the UK, IDO-UK will provide comprehensive support, including housing assistance, mental well-being resources, and guidance on adapting to the UK’s healthcare system and culture. Our commitment is to ensure a smooth transition, helping them integrate seamlessly into their new professional and personal lives.”
Neil Carmichael, Executive Chair, Association of Dental Groups said: “I was very grateful to be accompanied at the meetings by two knowledgeable ADG members, Shivani Bhandari and Gauri Pradhan – and the resulting discussions to boost the UK’s dental workforce through a training collaboration with India is hugely positive. We cannot hope to see significant progress in getting dentistry back on its feet without focusing on plugging the 3,000 plus gap in the workforce. Our members are telling us that currently there are only approximately 20 trained registered dentists in the UK looking for work, so it is clear we need to turn abroad to ease the crisis. We look forward to participating in the follow up conversations which are planned for early March so we can flesh-out the details.”
