Vol. 504 No. 5
134 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Health and Children the implications for health boards of the changes in the approval for training and certification of qualified orthodontists who obtain their training with qualified orthodontic consultants in the health boards. [12388/99]
I am anxious to see that training programmes are established involving the regional orthodontic units and the dental schools under which dentists employed in the units would have an opportunity of achieving post-graduate qualifications in orthodontics.
The Joint Committee for Specialist Training in Dentistry, JCSTD, a joint British-Irish body representative of the Royal Colleges, is the body charged with responsibility for approving post-graduate training in dentistry in order to ensure that proper and consistent standards are met between these islands.
The JCSTD recently arranged a visitation to a number of the health board regional orthodontic units by its specialist advisory committee in orthodontics and paediatric dentistry.
The purpose of this visitation by the specialist advisory committee is to provide independent assessment of the suitability of the trainees working in the units, the proposed training programmes and the training centres for post-graduate training in orthodontics.
A report on the outcome of these assessments is currently awaited.
