Everyone will know who you are, but can I just ask you to introduce yourself,
say who you are and what your role at the BDA is, please?
Yeah. Um, so, hello, my name's Eddie Crouch.
I'm chair of the principal executive Committee of the BDA.
It's a board of directors of the BDA. I'm sure we'll talk about the structures within
the BDA in this interview.
Um, but I have been involved in dental politics really since about 2005,
and has served on quite a lot of things locally in local dental committees and various other
roles within the BDA in the General Dental practise Committee,
and I've been on the board of directors for quite a while.
Um, and I became chair of the BDA in Suddenly, the uh the year of
COVID in 2020.
Time, time flies. I can't believe it's been 5 years already of
that. Yeah, yeah.
I mean, it, it, it certainly wasn't a great time to take over as chair of the BDA and it
was bloody hard work.
You know, I, um, I had 12 hour days regularly through, throughout,
you know, months, um, but, you know, it, I suppose after times like that,
it can only get easier. Yeah.
Uh, well, just on that actually, I suppose we do a lot of work with the BDA and,
and talking on what the BDA campaigns for and what the what the BDA does.
We don't necessarily talk a lot about what the BDA is,
how it operates, why it exists. So if we can go right back to basics.
Why does the BDA exist?
Yeah, I mean, you, we've got a, a long history, and in fact,
um, you know, moving out of Wimpole Street in the last uh few weeks,
and, and we're continuing to do that, it brings back the history when you see some of the stuff
we've got packed away in our museum and library, and the,
the history of the profession going back, really.
And, um, the BDA was formed in 1880, um, after a long campaign,
I think, of, of the profession to become.
Um, more professionalised, and, um, and certainly after the um Dentists Act of 1878,
I think, um, you know, it was important that a body was there to actually represent the
profession in a way that I think we've tried to do since 1880.
Um, some may say that successfully and some may say definitely not successfully,
but we've, we've tried.
Talking about the BDA representing uh dentists then.
Yeah. Do you, do you see the BDA as a trade union
primarily or as a professional association, and what's the difference in your view on those two?
Well, I think we are both and uh I think we, we are, we are a special uh body as recognised um
in that we, we definitely like to provide services for our members,
advice and education, um, but we, you know, we do a significant amount of work,
really lobbying for the profession.
Um, and also, you know, in more latter years, we've tried to be an advocate for patients and
the oral health of the population.