TDB Board of Presidents Meeting Held

TDB Council of Presidents Meeting Held

The Turkish Dental Association Presidents’ Council Meeting was held in Ankara on June 23–24, 2026, with the participation of Chamber Presidents and General Secretaries.

At the Presidents’ Council meeting, the procedure to be followed for dentists who began their doctoral education after November 26, 2011, and before February 4,2026, to successfully complete their doctoral education or who are currently pursuing such education, to determine the criteria to be established for the procedure to be followed in this regard.

• A presentation by TDB Legal Advisor Attorney Gizem Kumbul on the draft proposal to amend the article titled “Disciplinary Penalties” in Law No. 3224 of the Turkish Dental Association
• TDB 2035 Vision Statement Workshop
• Briefing on the management of the TDB Mutual Aid Fund and discussion regarding the establishment of Mutual Aid and Sickness Funds by the Chambers
• Briefings by Dr. Duygu İlhan, FDI Council Member and Lecturer, on the FDI and ERO, and by Zekeriya Doruk Alp, Member of the Foreign Relations Commission, on the Commission’s activities
• Discussion of Signage Standards. Presentation by the Public Relations and Information Commission on TDB Signage Standards
• Member Dues
• Discussion on the company’s partnership structure
• Work related to the Condominium Law
• Briefing by TDB Academy President Prof. Dr. Hare Gürsoy on the Academy’s activities
• Professional, economic, and social issues faced by young dentists; difficulties encountered during the transition into the profession; working conditions; and plans and proposed solutions regarding the future of the profession

The Chamber Presidents and General Secretaries presented their views and recommendations regarding the items on the agenda.

On the second day of the meeting, a press conference was held in front of the TDB Headquarters regarding Decision No. 2826 of the Turkish Ministry of Health’s Medical Specialization Board dated June 16, 2026. 

The press conference was attended by TDB President Fatih Güler; members of the Central Executive Board and the Supervisory Board; the Presidents and General Secretaries of the Dental Associations; members of the TDB Academy Executive Board; TDB Student Branch Secretary-General İsmail Aksoy, Young Dentists Association President Berat Gülengül, Innovative Dentists Association President Emir Paşaoğulları, and Community Dentistry President Seyit Yusuf Sert, along with numerous dentists. 

TDB President Fatih Güler commented on the decision in his statement:

“Distinguished Members of the Press, Distinguished Presidents, Distinguished Secretaries-General, and Distinguished Colleagues. First and foremost, we began by addressing the youth to hear their voices—the outcry that made it into the top 10 on Twitter in Turkey over the past week.

We stated from the very first day that we did not consider the decision made by the Medical Specialization Board to be fair or just, and that addressing this issue in this manner would not be the correct way to resolve the injustice. Our legal advisor completed the necessary work within a few days. Yesterday, we submitted our grounds for appeal to our presidents for approval, and after receiving their approval, our legal counsel filed the annulment lawsuit with the Council of State yesterday. The matter has now been referred to the courts. We will continue to monitor this closely. This is the first step we must take as an organization. However, the employment issue mentioned just now by my younger colleagues is our primary problem. Over the next five years, 40,000 dentists will graduate. Our numbers will rapidly reach 100,000. Any decision made without an employment plan for these five years is met with a strong backlash in the field. In fact, this backlash stems in part from dentists’ anxiety about the future. In particular, my younger colleagues’ fear of unemployment is a direct result of the term “unemployed dentist” now becoming a familiar concept in Turkey as well. Our Ministry of Health is, of course, obligated to support all general medical services, to incorporate all physicians graduating from medical schools into its system, to make appointments, and to address the shortage of doctors. It must, of course, allocate the necessary funding for this within the budget. Similarly, to ensure patients’ access to medication, the Ministry supports the purchase of drugs from pharmacies. These efforts are funded through a budget allocated via the Social Security Institution. However, when it comes to oral and dental health services, unfortunately, planning is approached as if oral and dental health were to be placed in a separate category within general health. Although it has been announced that quotas will be reduced, the problems created by the quotas established in the past are being left to be resolved solely through working in the private sector or finding jobs in the private sector. This, in turn, increases the strain and pressure on the ground and gives voice to the discontent.

The appointment of 10,000 dentists outlined in the 12th Development Plan, the expansion of founding dental practice programs under the banner of “family dentistry,” and the consideration of contracting services from the private sector will have an extremely positive impact on the employment of the 40,000 dentists set to graduate in the coming years.

The inspections being conducted are increasingly placing our colleagues in private practices, outpatient clinics, and oral health centers under extreme strain and exhaustion, leading to heavy fines.

Finally, we are being asked to enter patients’ X-ray data. Without any proposals regarding outsourcing this service, without any software companies being presented to us, and with the entire financial burden left to private-practice dentists—in an environment where even our prescriptions, and even those of dentists working in the private sector, are not recognized in the system, and in an environment where patients cannot go to the pharmacy to pick up their medications, we are constantly being asked to provide data. When we fail to provide this data, provide it incompletely, or struggle to complete it, we face heavy fines. All of this is part of this outcry. It is part of this reaction.

In this regard, I would like to once again thank all my colleagues who have come this far, my Chamber presidents, my general secretaries, and the members of the press. I welcome our colleagues who have come here from other cities. I thank you for the support you have given us.

I firmly believe that our unity and our collective efforts will undoubtedly yield the right results. I extend my respect to all of you.

CLICK HERE FOR THE TDB PRESIDENTS’ COUNCIL FINAL DECLARATION