TQM in dental practice.

Society now expects more from its doctors and dentists, and these increasing demands can be summed up in one relatively new term for the medical profession: "quality management" (QM). Doctors and dentists formerly took the view that their performance could be assessed solely on the basis of their technical skills, ethics and expertise, but are now confronted with a new social imperative, from outside the profession--quality management. The author, prize-winner of the European Quality Award 2000 describes his approach to introduce the European Foundation for Quality Management (EFQM) Excellence Model in his dental practice. He shows that the EFQM model is well suited as a basis for a quality management system in healthcare.