95 = 0.083%
Well, here we are, three months into a global pandemic. The world came to a standstill in March, lockdown was imposed, and life as we all knew it changed forever.
Conversations have become laced with terms such as ‘social distancing’, ‘furloughed’, ‘lockdown’, ‘queuing’ and ‘PPE’ being mentioned in nearly every sentence. It’s been a devastating crisis for so many people, and some say it may take a generation for the world to recover.
During the Coronavirus pandemic, as with all times of hardship, we see the best side of humanity with the amazing hard work from our NHS, medical teams, key workers, carers, shop workers and so many others throughout all of our communities. It is their commitment to deliver the care for our most vulnerable as well as keeping the country moving for everyone else that helped us and our families through this adversity.
Our profession also did itself extremely proud; we saw incredible commitment and selflessness from individuals and companies rapidly coming to the aid of those most in need.
Social media, TV and radio told us about how Dentists, CDTs, and Technicians spearheaded initiatives to address PPE shortages caused by an overwhelming global demand, going from their everyday routine to designing and producing their own versions of PPE practically overnight.
Thousands of face masks, respirators, visors, and ear savers were donated, making a huge difference to those affected. The dental companies and dental professionals who supported the efforts by donating design services, materials, equipment, online training courses and webinars should be remembered long after this is over.
I’m sure we all acknowledge these efforts and are proud of our profession and how it has played its part. While we are by no means out of this pandemic, it seems we are beginning to find a way forward while adapting to and embracing this ‘new normal’.
Something which was obvious early on was that no one had been in this position before; however, it did not take a genius to see this was going to have a huge impact on our businesses, jobs and home life – little did we really know to what extent!
As well as trying to make sense of how things would work in lockdown, we at the BACDT had a strong desire to act and help our profession in any way we could.
We held an emergency BACDT board meeting, with the sole purpose of addressing the number one priority for the association: how can we support our members during this time?
During that meeting, it was agreed that membership fees would be frozen for 3 months for members. Furthermore, due to the seriousness of the situation, it was also agreed that as the association representing our entire profession (and not just our members), we would extend the offer of free 3 month membership and support to ALL UK CDTs (including students) to help those who were not currently BACDT members.
Of course, no membership fees would mean an absence of income to pay managerial and administrative wages. To combat this, both Richard and James at Woodside Management Services along with the BACDT board agreed to continue working at no cost to the association or its members through what would become the most demanding time we’ve seen in our profession.
This was done purely to ensure CDTs were fully supported with the latest information and guidance via email/telephone support, and I have no doubt that everyone who received the information sent out over the last 3 months would agree the content delivered was (and still is) absolutely superb.
Something dawned on me during all of this – how was the BACDT able to send out all this information?
First and foremost, it is because we have an association in the first place; without it, who would 377 CDTs have to represent and support us as a profession? I also asked myself why the association still exists. The truth is, it’s because of the 60 or so CDTs who have quietly paid their membership, tirelessly devoted their time, attended countless meetings, and represented Clinical Dental Technology at government level for more than a decade.
In effect, the BACDT was able to be here for all CDTs during this pandemic because of people who, for the past 10+ years, hadn’t asked what the association could do for them, but what they could do for the association and their beloved profession. If they had not done so, we would not have an association at all right now.
To those 60 + CDTs who saw the bigger picture long before I ever did, who paid their membership month after month, I’d like to thank you for being instrumental in making sure that when we really needed a strong, professional association, we had one! I also thank you for ensuring the support of future generations of CDTs.
The fact is, you do not need to be a member of an association to be a success in our profession; many individuals are thriving and will continue to grow their businesses and may question the advantages of being a member of an association. However, it is often said that one of the main reasons CDTs will not join the association is because it is not doing what they feel it should be, or the association’s aims and objectives are not in line with their own. The reasons include “we want partials”, “we want extended SOP & direct access to all patients”, “we want contracts with the NHS”, “we should be allowed to do dentate additions/repairs without a prescription”, “we want to do tooth whitening” and so on – the script is one I’ve used myself many times.
I now understand just how repetitive and meaningless this approach is, as without representation by an association, it is destined to be nothing more than a regurgitated wish list, never being fulfilled; instead it will be argued about and people will apportion blame as to why, year after year, we still don’t have what “we want”.
It is not the BACDT that does not give CDTs what they want; the association will only ever do what the members ask of it. The blame can only lie with us as a profession if we do not have what we feel we should, as it is CDTs who do not use the association and go and get what they want. Essentially it is up to us and no one else.
To put things in perspective:
There are 114500 Dentist/DCPs registered with the GDC as of June 2020. CDTs make up 377 of that total (or 0.3%), and of those CDTs, 64 are paying members of the BACDT and 31 (a mix of qualified CDTs and Student CDTs) took up the free membership offer, making a total of 95 members (or 0.083%).
Put simply, within Dentistry, we as CDTs make up 0.3%, and the BACDT is supported by 0.083% of the total number of registrants. I actually got quite a shock that we represent such a small part of Dentistry as a whole.
This presents us with some eye-opening facts which cannot be ignored. The entirety of Clinical Dental Technology in the UK is currently represented at government level by 95 members. Our voice as a profession is made up of 95 members. The direction we want our SOP to go is decided by 95 members. Is the future of Clinical Dental Technology effectively supported at the moment by 95 people? Ironically, it is the same 95 people supporting our profession who are quite often blamed for the lack of things many would like as part of our SOP… go figure that one out!
There are 282 CDTs whose voices, opinions, theories, social media posts, fears, concerns, and SOP desires are heard by each other, but not by those who can affect any change – that can only be done by the 95. For a long time, I held the misguided opinion that the association didn’t ‘do the things it should’, until I realised the workflow of the association. Put simply, you cannot reasonably expect an association of any kind to do anything other than follow the membership requests, can you?
Although there is a lot more to it than this simplified diagram, you can see the power of association membership – it gives you a voice which will be heard. So, If you want change, you know how to make it!
Join the BACDT, decide what we want as a profession, and then we can move forward – we have the best people working with us to do it.
Thank you to the BACDT management, the BACDT board, all of the members for their support of Clinical Dental Technology, and a special thank you to those new members. I hope you will think about continuing your membership in the future. One day it would be amazing to see the association have the support of the majority in our profession. Just think of what we could achieve if we were all part of the same organisation, working hard to develop our profession and SOP.
Best wishes
Carl