Dental standards: fifty years of development.

Dental standards play a vital and important role in society by contributing to the quality and safety levels of products used in dental treatments by dental professionals as well as the hygiene products used by the general public. Few members of the public or indeed many dentists fully appreciate the contribution made by ISO international dental standards to the safety and quality of dental care. Further more the United Kingdom played a significant role in the establishment of the international standards organisation (ISO). The first two meetings of the dental international standards committee took place in England. In this article Derek W. Jones outlines the significant and important role played by the UK during the fifty years of dental international standards.