Dentist Ruled Against Using 'Dr' Title In Clinic Advert

Mon, 23 Feb 2009

The Advertising Standards Authority ASA has upheld its decision to prevent a dentist from using the title of ‘Dr’ in his magazine advertisements .

The move is a further blow to many dental professionals in the UK who are keen to use the title so that they can have the same privileges as their European counterparts.

However, many doctors argue that dentists could mislead patients about the extent of their expertise.

The private Woodvale Clinic in Knutsford, Cheshire, used dentist John W Stowall's honorary title in a magazine advert offering a range of facial surgery services.

But the ASA ruled that although Mr Stowall is a specialist in surgical and oral dentistry, the use of Dr was ‘ambiguous' and ‘misleadingly implied' he is qualified to conduct facial surgery .

Appealing against the decision, Dental Protection said they believed the use of the title ‘Dr' was not misleading in this context, because the ad made it clear the practitioner was a General Dental Council (GDC) registered specialist in surgical dentistry and oral surgery .

The group explained that it was common practice in the UK and throughout the world for dentists to use the honorary title, and that dentists from Europe who were allowed to use the title in their home country were now free to work in the UK.

They added that the GDC had no objection to dentists using the title ‘Dr' and that the title is currently used by the British Dental Association (BDA) in letters to its members and at all conferences and dentist meetings.

Dental Protection also pointed out that a large number of medical practitioners did not have a doctoral MD or PhD qualification.

But the ASA has failed to change its stance on the issue, saying: ‘We noted from the list of qualifications included in the ad that the practitioner was not medically qualified and did not hold a relevant PhD or doctorate qualification."

"We also considered that the advertisement did not explain the differences between the practitioner's qualifications and medical qualifications, and therefore concluded that the use of ‘Dr' in this ad could mislead."
add to favouritesnewsletterlink to this pagesend to friendpost comments

Link to this page

Copy and Paste the following HTML into your page.

Health cover, life insurance and PMIProtect Your Health

Find Critical illness, Life and Private Medical Insurance PMI policies.

Save money on your mortgageSave on Your Mortgage

Would you like to save money on your mortgage? Fill out our quick mortgage enquiry form