Introduction

Continuous Dental Education (CDE) in India is regulated by the National Dental Commission (NDC), which replaced the Dental Council of India (DCI) in 2026. The Continuing Dental Education Regulations, 2018 provide a framework for organizing various types of CDE programs, implementing a credit-point system, and promoting continuous professional development among dental professionals. The goal is to keep dental practitioners updated with the latest advancements in their field, enhance their knowledge and skills, and contribute to improved oral healthcare standards and patient outcomes.

India's changing demographic profile underscores the importance of Continuous Dental Education (CDE). The need for patient-centred and evidence-based oral healthcare is becoming increasingly apparent due to population growth, evolving disease patterns, rising health awareness, increasing educational attainment, and greater healthcare expenditure. As India continues to emerge as a major global economy, policymakers and regulatory bodies have placed increasing emphasis on ensuring that dental education and dental healthcare systems meet contemporary national and international standards. Continuous professional development through CDE plays an important role in supporting these objectives.

Types of CDE programs in India

CDE programs are deemed acceptable in India if they effectively provide dental professionals with knowledge enrichment, improvement, enhancement, amplification, and advanced understanding through one or more of the following formats.¹

1. Lectures - Lectures should be in some presentation software via PowerPoint, Keynote, OHP, etc.

2. Lecture cum demonstration - Demonstration should be on typodont teeth or extract teeth

3. Live demonstration on patients - will be only done by registered dental surgeons *

4. Simulation training (with lecture)

5. Video conferencing

6. Webinar

7. Video Lectures with moderator

8. Any hands-on activity for skill enhancement.

9. Any other mode that imparts, improves, enhances, accentuates, and advances the knowledge and skill of the professionals as prescribed and accepted by the NDC from time to time.

* registered with any of the State Dental Councils. A foreign faculty has to have a temporary registration from the Dental Council of India. 

Credits required for renewal.

To ensure the continuous professional development of dentists, the NDC has implemented a point system for CDE. Dentists are required to accumulate ‌ 100 credit points within a five-year period, with a minimum of 20 and a maximum of 25 credit points per year. Failure to comply with this requirement would violate the provisions outlined in the ‘Revised Dentists (Code of Ethics) Regulations, 2014.²

Award of CDE points. 

The credit points shall be awarded as follows³:

(i) Full day lecture or conference (6 hours) - 6 CDE points

(ii) Half Day lecture or workshop (3 hours) - 3 CDE points

(iii) Evening product introduction/lecture business meeting (60 minutes) - 1 CDE points

(iv) Webinar with 60 minutes with Q&A (points for webinar will be given only after online examination) - 1 CDE point

(v) Video Conferencing with 60 minutes(only during the conference) - 1 CDE point

(vi) Video Lecture with moderator with 60 minutes - 1 CDE point

Discussion

Attendance at live CDE events

The Indian dental community recognises the importance of continuous education to stay updated with the latest advancements in the field. Live CDE events provide an opportunity for dental professionals to engage in discussions, learn from experienced speakers, and exchange knowledge with their peers. These events are typically focused on specific dental specialities and cover a wide range of topics, including new treatment techniques, emerging research, and practice management strategies.

While live CDE events offer valuable learning experiences, there is also a need to consider the practicality and accessibility of attending such events. Dental professionals in India face challenges in terms of time management and geographical constraints. 

According to WHO, the recommendation for dentist to population ratio in developing countries is 1:7,500  (which is 1.3: 10,000). India has a ratio of 1.9:10000 ⁴. So it is slightly above target for a developing country, but there is a huge variation even within this. Like most countries, even in India dentists prefer to practice in urban areas with a higher standard of living, with 90% of the dentists practicing in the urban areas, and only about 10% are providing care for the rural population. ⁵ Therefore, efforts are to be made to strike a balance between accomplishing mandated CDE credits and not exhausting the limited clinical hours of the dentists which already have a shortage in India.

Table 1: Clinical time spent in earning CDE credits through live events

The way forward for CDE in India

If CDEs in India could be conducted solely online, the yearly burden on dentists would be reduced to 20 hours per year, meaning that 29.4 clinical hours would remain available for clinical practice (Table 2) per dentist. If all dentists are considered, online CDE frees up 29.4 x 0.33 million = 9.70 million clinical hours annually for India only.

Table 2: Time saved per dentist by 100% adoption of online CDE