London Study Club

2 July 2026 7:00PM – 10:00PM
MRONJ: What Every Dentist Needs to Know / Regulating Modern Dentistry and What it Means for Dental Professionals

Presented by: Dr Katherine George and Theresa Thorp
Host: Fiona MacKillop
Date: 2 July 2026 7:00PM – 10:00PM
Time: 1900 Refreshments 1930 Lecture
Location: 1 Wimpole Street, Westminster, London, W1G 0AE

Join Dr Fiona Mackillop your host for this Study Club session with speaker Dr Katherine George on MRONJ: What Every Dentist Needs to Know and Theresa Thorp on Regulating Modern Dentistry and What it Means for Dental Professionals

MRONJ: What Every Dentist Needs to Know

Medication-Related Osteonecrosis of the Jaw (MRONJ) is an increasingly recognised and potentially serious complication seen in patients taking antiresorptive and antiangiogenic medications, including bisphosphonates and denosumab. As the gatekeepers of oral health, dentists play a critical role in identifying at-risk patients, providing appropriate preventive care, and managing dental treatment safely. This session will provide a practical, clinically focused overview of MRONJ — covering its pathophysiology, risk stratification, prevention strategies, and the importance of multidisciplinary collaboration with oral and maxillofacial surgery teams.

Learning Objectives

Understand the pathophysiology of MRONJ and identify the medications and patient groups that carry the highest risk
Confidently assess and risk-stratify patients prior to invasive dental procedures using current evidence-based guidelines
Apply practical preventive strategies in general dental practice to minimise the risk of MRONJ in at-risk patients
Know when and how to refer to oral and maxillofacial surgery, and what to expect from multidisciplinary management.

Regulating Modern Dentistry and What it Means for Dental Professionals

The GDC’s Strategy for the next three years sets out our vision to be a trusted and effective regulator, supporting dental professionals to provide safe and effective care for their patients.

We champion a model of regulation that supports professionalism, enables learning, and resolves issues quickly and proportionately.

We want to develop our approach to regulation and how we work with others, particularly dental professionals, our partners and patients, using our values to drive these changes: we want to be recognised as being respectful, transparent, inclusive and purposeful.

The feedback that we consistently receive from dental professionals and stakeholders is about fear and the need to modernise and reform.

In this session, we will provide an overview of regulation, where we are making improvements and how we support professionalism and learning for dental professionals. We will also talk about what we are doing to reduce the negative impact that fear around Fitness to Practise proceedings has on professionals.

Learning objectives

Understand the GDC’s priorities to move towards trusted and effective regulation
How our approach supports professionalism, enables learning, and resolves issues quickly and proportionately.
Understand some of the ways the GDC plans to modernise and improve regulation

Meet your speakers

Dr Katherine George

Katherine is a Consultant Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon at King’s College Hospital and One Welbeck. She has a specialist interest in dentoalveolar surgery, minimally invasive management of salivary gland pathology, and orthognathic surgery. She has extensive experience of the management of complex oral surgical cases, including MRONJ. She is passionate about education and supporting primary care colleagues in the safe management of medically complex patients.

Theresa Thorp

Theresa joined the GDC in September 2023 as Executive Director, Regulation. Theresa is a Solicitor-Advocate (Criminal), with over 20 years’ experience advising and presenting in the public and private spheres. She is a qualified Advocate with rights of appearance in the South African High Courts and a Solicitor-Advocate in England and Wales. A former Crown Advocate specialising in prosecuting child abuse and serious sexual offences, she joined the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) in 2015 and thereafter the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) in 2017 before joining the GDC.