MFDS

MFDS is an exam offered by the Royal College of Surgeons. It stands for Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgeons. The exam is a requirement to allow further specialist training for dentists in the UK and some Commonwealth countries. If a dentist has this exam it indicates that he or she has undertaken additional study over and above the minimum qualifying level.

It has traditionally been seen as a more difficult exam encompassing a greater breadth and depth of subject matter than the MFGDP (Membership of the Faculty of General Dental Practitioners.) The MFGDP aims to test the knowledge and competency of the general dental practitioner, whereas the MFDS tests more specialist knowledge.

In order to be eligible to sit the MFDS exam a dentist must also have worked in both general dental practice AND a hospital (usually maxillofacial surgery) or community dental post. For these reason MFDS rather than MFGDP has been used as the preferred entry requirement for all higher specialist training in dentistry in the UK.

The Royal College of Surgeons will soon be amalgamating these two exams in order to make specialist training more accessible to those dentists who do not want to work outside of general dental practice prior to higher training. It is not yet clear how this will affect the quality of candidate entering specialist dental training.