Diploma in Hygiene and Therapy Clinical Case Presentation

To be eligible to enter the diploma exams, candidates must have completed a course of study on a GDC-recognised programme (combined Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy, Dental Hygiene or Dental Therapy) and provide evidence of satisfactory completion of training signed by the course lead/head of school.

Evidence includes:

• satisfactory result at end of first year;
• completion of continuous assessment record in form of clinical logbook during their training;
• completion of a project during training;
• completion of three clinical cases suitable for the clinical case presentation by the time of examination;
• no outstanding fitness to practice issues.

To be eligible to sit the Dental Therapy exam a candidate must have previously passed or be attempting the Dental Hygiene exam. Candidates can sit the Dental Hygiene exam without having to pass the Dental Therapy exam.

Candidates have two attempts at the exam, after this they cannot enter again.

• The clinical case presentation component will not require the candidate to carry out any practical procedures under examination conditions. 
• The candidate will be expected to present complete clinical records and radiographs for one patient whom they have treated, to the external examiner and an internal examiner. The patient will not be present during the examination. The case should demonstrate the candidate’s ability to manage non-surgical periodontal therapy for a patient who presented with significant periodontal disease. In addition the candidate should demonstrate understanding of their role in the holistic care of the patient. 
• The candidate should prepare a written (typed) summary of all aspects of their care of the patient. This summary should be no more than two sides of A4 and will be used purely as a basis for discussion during the clinical case presentation examination.
• The original records and radiographs should also be available to the examiners.
• The examination will last a minimum of twenty minutes and no more than thirty minutes.
• The external and internal examiners will ask questions relating to the candidate’s clinical knowledge and understanding of the patient’s management.
• The clinical case presentation examination is graded using the scheme attached as Appendix 2.
• A scribe will be present during the clinical case presentation to record the questions asked as a record for the examiners.
• A Quality Assurance Lead will be appointed by the FGDP(UK) who may be present during the examination to monitor examiner performance as a part of the quality assurance processes of the Faculty.
• There may be other observers present during the examination. Examples of these include examiners completing their examiner training or General Dental Council inspectors.