Education and Training Programmes
Summary
Education and training programme pilots for primary care dental teams have been developed in the following dental specialities:
1. Oral medicine
2. Oral surgery
3. Special care dentistry
Background
The purpose of these pilots was to introduce programmes targeted to the needs and wants of both the dental primary care workforce and secondary care dental services.
The overall aim of these programmes is to enhance patient care by increasing knowledge, confidence and management of patients that can be cared for within a primary care setting. The programmes also aim to improve collaboration and communication across the different dental services.
Preferences from a PSDS workforce survey (legacy NES) in 2023 PSDS (NES) workforce survey summary report, semi-structured interviews with interest holders and analysis of secondary care waiting list data identified oral medicine and oral surgery as key focus areas for the development of new initiatives. The success of pilots in these specialties has expanded the programmes method of learning into special care dentistry.
The pilot’s method of learning is based on the Project ECHO (Extension for Community Healthcare Outcomes) model https://projectecho.unm.edu/. Project ECHO was developed in 2003 as an innovative model to facilitate continuing education and professional development. ECHO programmes use virtual collaboration and anonymised peer case-based learning to allow practitioners to receive specialist training to implement best practices.
Oral Medicine
An initial Oral Medicine Education and Training Programme (OMETP) Pilot was developed by the PSDS Dental Clinical Effectiveness (CE) workstream and undertaken in NHS Tayside between April and October 2024. NES OMETP summary report NHS Tayside.
A poster presenting the finding of this pilot was presented at the NHS Education for Scotland Conference 2025: Tackling health inequalities through education and workplace learning NES Dental Oral Medicine Education and Training Pilot. NES annual conference 2025 OMETP poster.
A second oral medicine pilot was developed and implemented by the CE workstream in NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde (GG&C) between June and November 2025. This second pilot was designed to action improvements identified from the initial pilot and to establish whether this learning model could be delivered at a larger scale and across different health boards.
Oral Surgery
In Oral surgery, a two-part model was created that combined online learning with hands-on training, this pilot was carried out in NHS Forth Valley between February and December 2025 NES OSETP NHSFV report.
A poster presentation of the oral surgery pilot was presented at the NHS Scotland Event 2026: Transforming Health and Care Services through Collaboration NHS 2026 event OSETP poster Public Services Delivery Scotland Oral Surgery Education and Training Programme Pilot, held on 21st September 2026, University of Strathclyde.
Special Care Dentistry
The special care dentistry education and training programme commenced in NHS GG&C in September 2026.