01—Task Force Internal Market

In 2022, the Board Task Force focused actively on the topic of workforce challenges. In collaboration with the Working Group Education and Professional Qualifications, the Board Task Force produced the CED White Paper ‘Workforce Challenges for Dentistry’. The document was adopted during the CED November General Meeting and highlights the need for action aimed at ensuring a balanced distribution of dental professionals and high-quality oral health care for patients across Europe. The document underlines the importance of workforce planning for addressing the overall number and distribution of dental professionals, as well as its interplay with other significant factors, such as societal and demographic changes, education, task shifting.

The Board Task Force also focused on the issue of corporate dentistry, through the preparation of a robust and encompassing survey on the topic. The survey covered a variety of issues such as the types of business models for dental chains, employment conditions, urban versus rural distribution of dental chains, to name a few. Following its launch in September, the survey received detailed, expert feedback from the CED members and
will be used as the basis for future activities on
corporate dentistry.

The Board Task Force continued monitoring other issues of relevance to dentistry, such as developments in relation to the Proportionality Test Directive and to partial access. In 2023, the Board Task Force will continue monitoring and engaging on the abovementioned priority issues. Work will also continue on the topic of workforce challenges, specifically through the creation of a policy document.

02—Task Force Communications

In 2022 we focused on the social media presence through regular posts on the CED Twitter account. Works on updating the CED website and EU Manual of Dental Practice have started, and we published another Annual Report, summarizing the work of the CED in 2021.