It has been another busy week across the dental sector. Take a look at our snapshot of this week’s industry news and updates, including new guidance on artificial intelligence (AI) scribes, Dr Urshla Devalia’s appointment to the General Dental Council and more great work by the Dental Wellness Trust.
Dental practices using AI scribes have been given clearer guidance on when the technology crosses into medical device regulation.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) guidance, developed with NHS England, said tools used only for transcription, consultation summaries, draft referral letters or suggested clinical codes for clinician review are not medical devices under current law.
However, products intended to support diagnosis, treatment or prevention, or take automated action without clinician review, are regulated as medical devices.
For dental teams, the message is clear: clinicians remain responsible for checking AI-generated transcripts, summaries or outputs before they are used in patient care.
Lawrence Tallon, chief executive officer of the MHRA, said the guidance aimed to provide clarity on ‘where the regulatory line sits’ for the technology.
GDC appointed Dr Urshla Devalia as council member
The General Dental Council (GDC) appointed Dr Urshla Devalia OBE as its new registrant council member.
Known as Oosh, Dr Devalia is a consultant paediatric dentist at the Royal National ENT and Eastman Dental Hospitals, president of the British Society of Paediatric Dentistry and a former clinical policy lead within the Office of the Chief Dental Officer for England.
She is expected to take office on 1 October 2026, replacing Simon Morrow, who will conclude his term after eight years.
Dr Helen Phillips, chair of the GDC, said she looked forward to working with Dr Devalia as the regulator delivered its 2026 to 2028 strategy.
mydentist appointed Rob McCoy as chief operating officer
mydentist appointed Rob McCoy as its new chief operating officer.
Mr McCoy will join from Starbucks, where he spent eight years and most recently served as general manager of the UK business. He previously held senior leadership roles at Pizza Express and John Lewis Partnership, following nine years as a commissioned officer in the British Army.
He will report to mydentist chief executive Nilesh Pandya and is expected to join the mydentist board when he takes up the role on 5 October 2026.
Dental Wellness Trust visited north west London school
The Dental Wellness Trust visited Mora Primary School in north west London as part of its school-based dental outreach programme.
Almost 300 children received oral health assessments during the outreach morning, including screening and fluoride varnish application. The school has worked with the charity for seven years and now runs a supervised toothbrushing initiative.
Dr Linda Greenwall MBE, founder of the Dental Wellness Trust, said the team was seeing improvements in children’s oral health because of Mora Primary School’s commitment to supervised toothbrushing.
The Dental Wellness Trust thanked the volunteers and sponsors who supported the outreach visit. You can find out more about its work and volunteering opportunities here.
Superdrug and Oral-B to support Operation Smile campaign
Superdrug, Pennies and Oral-B are supporting Operation Smile with a nationwide fundraising campaign for children and adults with cleft conditions.
From 12 August to 6 October, Superdrug shoppers will be able to donate 20p on transactions over £3 through Pennies, the digital charity box. From 9 September until the end of the campaign, Superdrug and Procter & Gamble will also donate 20p from every Oral-B product sold in store and online.
Operation Smile works in more than 35 countries, bringing together volunteers including dentists, surgeons, anaesthetists, nurses, speech therapists and nutritionists to provide free surgery and follow-up care.
BFS invited students to enter water fluoridation video competition
The British Fluoridation Society (BFS) has invited dental and oral health students to enter a video competition focused on community water fluoridation.
The BFS Student Video Challenge opens on 1 September 2026 and invites students to create a 30-90 second video for social media. The winning entry will receive £500, with two runner-up prizes of £250.
BFS chair Barry Cockcroft said the competition aimed to help students communicate evidence clearly while promoting a population-level measure for preventing dental decay.
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