Dental Service in Malta

Malta offers a unique dental location. With a total of 150 practicing dentists, regulation is easy and efficient. In contrast to the random sampling of clinics in most countries, Malta checks each clinic once a year to ensure the highest standards are maintained.

● Dental Ethics

The Medical Council of Malta has a comprehensive code of ethics which covers both the broader medical and the dental profession. It has specific sections on ensuring the health of the patient without regard to profit, the fair application of fees and the protection of a patient's privacy.

● Continuing education

There are concrete plans to implement a compulsory continuing education programme. To comply with the Medical Council's ethical code dentists must continually update their training and in effect dentists in Malta already pursue the goals and training required for renewal of licensure when legislation for continuing education comes into effect.

● Complaints

The Medical Council has the power to suspend or remove the right to practice (No dentist has been removed from the dental register in the history of the Council). The right to action through the civil courts is unaffected by any complaint lodged with the medical council.

● Data Protection

A 2003 law covers all aspects of the protection of data, both paper and electronic. This is fully compliant with EU regulations on data protection. In addition the ethical code of the Medical Council covers the duties of a dentist towards the privacy of their patients.

Source: Ministry of Health, Valletta Malta www.sahha.gov.mt