Looking forward: educating tomorrow's dental team

This publication reports a meeting of the stakeholders of dentaleducation in the UK, hosted by the Council of Heads and Deansof Dental Schools (CHDDS). The meeting, held in Manchester,UK on 4–5 October 2007, occurred within days of the seventhanniversary of a dental hospitals and schools policy retreathosted by the then Council of Deans of Dental Schools and theAssociation for Dental Hospitals. The proceedings of the retreat,intended to raise awareness and stimulate discussion on mattersimportant to the planning of the future provision of dental educationin the UK, were published in the form of a supplementto the European Journal for Dental Education (1).The principal purpose of the meeting of stakeholders of dentaleducation reported in the present publication was to raise andstimulate discussions on issues considered important to the furtherdevelopment of dental education in the UK. A secondary,but by no means less important purpose of the meeting was togive members of the CHDDS opportunity to interact with otherstakeholders in dental education and, in the process, facilitate ashared understanding of existing and, in certain respects increasingtensions and challenges in the UK dental education system