For GDPs · Foundation training & CPD

A foundation dentist once asked me, quite seriously, if the rubber dam was optional.

It isn't. Neither is decent access, working length, or knowing why a canal's misbehaving before you blame the file. That's not a dig at anyone starting out — it's exactly the stuff nobody has time to teach properly in a normal working day.

Ten years of foundation training will do that to you — you start noticing the gaps with real precision.

Two separate things happen under "training" here: one foundation dentist a year, in-house, on a defined DFT programme. And separately, HEIW lectures and private courses for GDPs who aren't training with me directly. Microscope and CBCT throughout, not slides of someone else's case.

In-house foundation training

One foundation dentist a year, on a defined DFT programme, working alongside me at the practice — not a rotation through a supervisor's diary. Approved Foundation Trainer, roughly ten years running. Oliver Hall starts in September 2026. See where the last ten have gone →

Running now

HEIW lectures on endodontics and tooth wear, delivered to foundation dentist cohorts and GDPs across North and South Wales. Booked through HEIW's own system, not through this page — check Y Tŷ Dysgu for listed dates, or get in touch if you're not sure what's coming up.

Paid CPD for GDPs

The hands-on Endo Day and the ongoing mentorship both live on one page now, side by side — easier to compare a single intensive day against ongoing support. See both →

Dr John Barclay presenting at an endodontic and tooth wear course for GDPs — HELP (please) — the honest starting point for most lectures on endodontic access.

GDPs at a hands-on endodontic training course, working with dental instruments at the table — Hands-on, not slides of someone else's case — delegates working through real technique at the table.

Dr John Barclay presenting clinical tooth wear content on screen at a GDP training course — Tooth wear under-detection — the research now forming the basis of the published CPD series.

Cleared and dyed tooth specimen showing the complexity of the root canal system — This is why "missed canal" isn't a training gap — it's an anatomy problem. Cleared specimen showing canal branching most periapicals never show.

Credentials, for what they're worth

Diploma in Endodontics. GDC 210844. Original research into tooth wear under-detection across 155 patients, presented at the DRMR Academy conference — published as a two-part CPD series with Dentistry CPD: part one and part two. Shortlisted for The Probe's Best Dentist and the Private Dentistry Awards' Best Practice Principal, both 2025 and 2026 — mostly relevant here because it means someone else looked closely and didn't find anything to complain about.

A foundation dentist once asked me, quite seriously, if the rubber dam was optional.

Further reading

Microscope-Assisted Root Canals: What It Actually Changes Clinically

Retreatment vs Re-root Canal: How I Decide