Comparison of the quality assurance system of dental professionals in Japan, the EU and the ASEAN

In recent years, the society requires a flexible response of the dental society to deal with changes in disease structure in the super-aging society in Japan. Regarding quality of dental care, we need to ensure quality of clinical environment, dental professionals and the system. As globalization expands, the health care professionals move to another country to work. In the European Union(EU), the quality assurance system for the graduated European dentist through the activities in undergraduate education has been established and a similar approach is ongoing in the region of the Association of South-East Asian Nations. After the registration, the continuing professional development (CPD) system takes a role on quality assurance for dentist. The DentCPD was an approach to create a standard for CPD in the EU. Regarding the quality assurance system in Japanese dentistry, there were systematic approaches, establishing the model core curriculum in dental education, the common achievement test. Besides them, the quality assurance system for dentist has not been established except the voluntary life-long learning program of the Japan Dental Association. Predicting changes of the society to have quality control for dental professionals, we should prepare the system like the CPD system which matches level of the global standard.