Irish Dental Association CPD Courses

The Irish Dental Council recommends that dentists undertake 50 hours of CPD a year. 

CPD is a continuing learning process that complements formal undergraduate and postgraduate education and training.  The Dental Council's Code pertaining to Professional Behaviour and Dental ethics states that all dentists have an obligation to maintain and update their knowledge and skills through CPD.  CPD is necessary for dentists to maintain and improve their standards across all areas of their practice.  Dentists should embrace a culture of lifelong learning to make sure that they remain competent in their practice in order to provide a high quality of patient care.  CPD will also help dentists to keep up to date even when they are not practicing.

CPD is defined as studying a course, attending a training course or a seminar, reading and other activities undertaken by a dentist which could reasonably be expected to advance his or her professional development as a dentist.  Non-clinical activity can also count as CPD.

CPD Subjects

The Dental Council recommends that all dentists carry out CPD in the areas listed below. The Council considers these to be ‘core’ areas and expects all dentists to be proficient in them. The suggested hours, which should be considered as the minimum time to be allocated to these subjects over a fiveyear period, are set out.

Recommended core subject matter

• Infection prevention and control -10 hours

• Radiology informatics and radiation protection - 5 hours

• Professional communication -10 hours

• Relationship management
• Ethical and legal issues
• Conflict resolution
• Handling of complaints
• Communication

• Medical emergencies (excluding Basic Life Support) - 5 hours

• Audit - 7 hours

• Record keeping - 5 hours

• Governance- 8 hours

•  Workplace legislation / HR
•  Health and safety at work
•  Development of practice protocols (team based)

Total (half of the overall required verifiable hours) 50 hours

Note regarding Basic Life Support: You are obliged to maintain valid Basic Life Support (BLS) accreditation. The time taken to maintain BLS accreditation is in addition to the core CPD set out above

Suggested CPD

The Dental Council recommends that dentists working in a clinical environment carry out CPD relating to all aspects of their clinical practice. Other CPD topics dentists may consider include: legal and ethical issues, handling complaints, health and safety including risk management, pain management, business planning, communication, evidence-based dentistry, child protection and clinical audit.

Cancellation Policy
All cancellations must be received in writing either by email, or by post to IDA House, Unit 2 Leopardstown Office Park, Sandyford, Dublin 18. Cancellations received 29 days or more prior to the course/event will be entitled to a 100% refund. Cancellations received between 15 days and 28 days (inclusive) prior to the course/event will receive a 75% refund. For cancellations received between 1 day and 14 days (inclusive) prior to the course/event, no refund will be given. Failure to attend the course/event on the day will constitute late cancellation and no refund will be given. Substitutions are welcome at any time. Due to unforeseen circumstances, the programme may change and the IDA reserves the right to cancel the event or alter the venue and/or speakers.