Free membership for dental students

Having professional protection may not seem a priority, but now is the perfect time to be part of something big.

With FREE student membership from Dental Protection you’re joining members who trust us to protect their careers and finances.

Join the world’s leading dental defence organisation protecting dentists and oral healthcare professionals across the world.

Join today

What is professional protection and why is it so important?

Once you have completed your training, you’ll start putting into practice what you’ve learned throughout your years at dental school.

Professional protection, known as indemnity, can assist you with any dentolegal problems that might arise from your work as a dentist throughout your whole career. This can include patient complaints, claims for compensation or referrals to the Dental Council.

For many dentists’ indemnity is compulsory and is there to protect you from financial or personal loss if something should go wrong. Without indemnity you could end up being asked to pay compensation, as well as any legal costs.

See our new Student Hub - to help you become the best dentist you can be.

Find out more

What is a Dental Defence Organisation (DDO)?

A DDO – or dental defence organisation - provides dental indemnity for registered dentists and oral healthcare professionals to protect their career, reputation and financial interests from patient claims or complaints.

Student membership with Dental Protection provides you with access to:

Online learning resources - advice, top tips and more

Access to webinars and podcasts, case studies and articles presented by experienced dentists that can help you build your skills and knowledge

Dentolegal advice phone line to help with challenges arising from your undergraduate clinical practice

Confidential counselling service - support with issues that may be impacting on your ability to study

Once you’ve qualified

Once you have qualified, registered and are practising, you become responsible for your own clinical decision making, quality of treatment, communication with your patients and colleagues, as well as your professional development.

Occasionally patients don’t agree with your advice, and very occasionally patients are unhappy with their treatment outcomes. Some patients will just move to another dentist and take their unhappiness with them. Other patients may be motivated to complain or even litigate. That’s when you need the support of an experienced dentolegal team with the expertise to understand the issues you face.

Once you’ve qualified and applied for full Dental Protection membership, you’ll be able to request assistance with the following:

Complaint support

Help responding to and resolving patient complaints

Advice and support

Guidance on ethical issues, patient safety and consent

Dentolegal advice

Dentolegal advice phone line including out of hours emergency support 24/7

Expert legal team

Access to a dedicated legal team, which may include clinical negligence attorneys, dentolegal consultants and professional claims managers

Good Samaritan acts

Worldwide protection for Good Samaritan acts – where you provide emergency assistance in a personal rather than professional capacity.

Help with unwanted media attention

Specialist support including preparing statements and responding to the media on your behalf

Advice and legal representation

You can request advice and legal representation for Dental Council investigations, disciplinary and regulatory proceedings and criminal investigations related to your professional practice

*For full details, please refer to Understanding your membership.

Experts across the world

Dental Protection experts proudly support and protect members in the Caribbean and Bermuda and across the globe. We have members in UK, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Malaysia. That kind of expertise matters – especially when it comes to choosing the best protection for the career you’re working hard for.

And the best part? Membership is completely FREE during your time as a dental student.