The role of dental nurses in information governance

This article looks at the changing nature of regulatory standards for the dental profession. It goes on to demonstrate how dental care professionals can play a meaningful role in meeting those standards, as part of a whole team approach to providing safe, high quality dental care for patients.

Regulations and guidelines designed to govern dental services are nothing new. Since the formation of the profession's first regulatory body in 1921, standards of care and safety for the dentistry have been in place. However, until recently the arrangements for monitoring compliance have been sporadic. Now in the aftermath of landmark cases in which healthcare professionals have been shown to comprehensively fail to place patient's interests first, robust measures for monitoring compliance with safety and quality standards have been introduced.