An open letter to the GDC

Evlynne Gilvary
Chief Executive and Registrar
General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street,
London, W1M 8DQ.


06/09/2011

Dear Ms. Gilvarry,

Use of courtesy Title "Doctor"

I am writing to let you know that I have been using the courtesy title 'Dr.' for almost 20 years and intend to continue to do so. I have been contacted by a large number of predominantly younger dentists who have been using the title since qualifying and the general consensus of opinion is that they have no intention of ceasing to use the title, whatever the Council might decide. I believe the overwhelming majority of practitioners feel the same on this issue and are similarly resolved.

I am aware that the Council is awaiting an impact analysis of the proposals in the ethical advertising paper before considering the matter on 22nd. September.

I believe there are two important issues for the Council to consider when deciding on how to vote on this matter. One being the impact a decision to implement a ban would have on the status of the profession, as dentists try to explain to their patients why they should no longer be called 'Doctor'; the second, the impact on the credibility of the Council if they implement a ban which they may find themselves unable to enforce

Yours sincerely,

Dr. Michael Wilson.

Making ourselves heard

It needs to be borne in mind that the GDC can only carry out its role as governing body of the profession with the assent and co-operation of the profession in general - the vast majority of whom are GDPs.

Many practitioners have contacted me to say they are very concerned about the impact a decision to implement a ban would have on the status of the profession, as they try to explain to their patients why they should no longer be called Doctor. The other important point that has been raised repeatedly is the cost to the profession should they feel the need to change practice stationery, signage, web-sites etc. - at a time when they are having to cope with the additional financial burden of CQC registration and implementation of HTM01-05.

The overwhelming response I have received is that dentists have no intention of ceasing to use the title 'Dr.' Consequently the GDC is in danger of inflicting immense damage on itself, over an issue which is entirely of its own making, if it votes to implement a ban it will be unable to enforce.

I would suggest we write or e-mail the GDC so they are made aware of the strength of feeling in the profession on this issue and so they are in no doubt as to the potential consequences to the credibility of the Council, should they put themselves in a position so out of step with the profession at large.

The way forward

We can learn a lesson from history here. The situation in 1995 was that a large number of dentists were openly using the title 'Dr.' in defiance of the GDC's guidelines and indeed many had written to the GDC stating that they were using the title 'Doctor' in their practices. The Council realised that if they did not vote to remove the prohibition, it would have to take legal action against the dentists who were in breach of its guidelines, which would be both impractical and financially prohibitive.

The situation now is somewhat different in that a very large proportion of dentists are now legally using the title. I have spoken with a large number of younger dentists who have been using the title since qualifying and the general consensus of opinion seems to be that they have no intention of ceasing to use the title, whatever the Council might decide.

We need to make it abundantly clear to the GDC that if they do vote to implement a ban, dentists will ignore it and continue in their use of the title 'Doctor'. The Council would then find themselves in the embarassing position of being practically and financially unable to act against those dentists openly flouting it's guidelines.

Oh No! I've just remembered........

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Where we are now

In order to allow sufficient time for the full impact analysis of the proposals to be undertaken, The GDC has decided that the issue will now be considered by the Council at its meeting on 22nd. September.

Consequently we still have time to express our feelings on this matter to the Council and if we are complacent and do nothing we may wake up on 23rd. September to find we have lost our right to use of the title 'Doctor'.

There are two important issues for the Council to consider when deciding on how to vote on this matter. One being the impact a decision to implement a ban would have on the status of the profession, as dentists try to explain to their patients why they should no longer be called 'Doctor'. The second, the impact on the credibility of the Council if they implement a ban which they may find themselves unable to enforce.

The genie is out of the bottle

It is amazing that, after all these years, the GDC is still smarting from being persuaded to amend their guidance to allow dentists to use the courtesy title 'Doctor' back in 1995.

The Council's position then was that use of the title 'Doctor' would confuse patients and it appears to be unchanged. Rather than confuse patients, I would maintain that use of the title 'Dr.' helps patients understand the dentist's role as leader of a team of Dental Care Professionals. With around 50% of dentists graduating being women, their use of the title 'Dr.' helps patients distinguish them from the hygienists, therapists and dental nurses who are also involved in their dental care. It also helps patients understand the depth of knowledge and understanding that a dentist has acquired during their years of training.

A whole generation of dentists will have been using the title 'Dr.' since they qualified and will be somewhat bemused by the fact that the GDC is still of the view that they should revert to being 'Miss', 'Ms', or 'Mr' so as not to confuse their patients!

I think it highly unlikely that dentists using the title 'Dr.' will cease to do so no matter what the GDC might decide at the completion of its consultation. Once the genie is out of the bottle it is difficult to persuade it to return!

History of the issue

The decision by the GDC in November 1995 to allow dentists to use the courtesy title 'Doctor' was the culmination of a well organised campaign run by Dr. Douglas Pike, himself a member of the GDC at the time. Dentists who wished to do so were encouraged to use the title 'Dr.' in relation to their practices and increasing numbers were doing so - even though at that time the GDC regarded the use of the courtesy title 'Doctor' by dentists a matter of serious professional misconduct.

When the issue was debated by the GDC in May 1995 it was defeated by the narrowest of margings. The GDC was fully aware of the rising open useage of the title 'Doctor' within the profession and had to either remove the prohibition or act against those dentists flouting its guidelines.

The matter was once again debated by the GDC in November 1995, by which time a large number - I believe it was in the region of 3000 dentists had written to the GDC stating that they were using the title 'Doctor' in their practices. Indeed this was pointed out by the then President of the Council Margaret Seward before the vote, when she said that if the Council did not vote to remove the prohibition it would be placed in the embarassing position of being out of step with a groundswell of opinion within the profession and that it would be practically and financially impossible to act against dentists openly using the title.

The notification sent to all dentists by the then Registrar of the GDC following the vote removing the ban on use of the title 'Doctor'