Lifelong education and the dental profession.

Provision of education is constantly under review, with regular changes to address new needs. In addition, demands that cannot be met from within initial training courses have spawned a plethora of educational courses to update knowledge and develop new skills--in effect promoting lifelong education. The aim of this paper is i) to define and explain commonly used educational terms relevant to the understanding of lifelong education, ii) to make a distinction between lifelong education and continued education, and iii) to offer a rationale for the increasing importance of lifelong education for the dental profession.