Topics for general dental practioner continuing education: survey of Scottish views.

The provision of continuing education for general dental practitioners is expanding with a bewildering range of presentation methods and variation in quality. The first stage in the development of any educational programme should be identification of target audience needs, but little has been published on this subject. To draw the attention of providers of continuing education material to the perceived needs of general dental practitioners in one geographical region, a questionnaire survey was employed. Scottish general dental practitioners were asked to identify topics on which they needed continuing education. Sixty-five per cent responded. Conservative dentistry and periodontology were requested most frequently. The reasons for this and the wide range of topics requested are discussed.