Euro-Qual: Towards a Quality System for European Othodontic Professionals

The three keywords, Orthodontics, Europe and Quality represent the important issues in this book, describing the EURO-QUAL, BIOMED 1 Programme. In this Programme, individuals and representatives of institutions have been asked to contribute to the discussion on the development of a quality system for orthodontic care. The philosophy of Total Quality Management was adopted and specific emphasis was given to patient quality. When considering how the structure and quality of European orthodontic care continuously can be improved, there are certain conditions which are difficult to modify. From the start this has been realised and respected and therefore the guidelines for the quality are flexible and can be adapted to different conditions. Available knowledge has been bundled and an attempt has been made to understand the reality of orthodontic care in Europe: the product and the process.