31/08/2014 Starting out as a foundation dentist Preview Article Starting out as a foundation dentist Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview Finbar O'Mahony reflects on his first six months in dental practice and gives advice on overcoming the challenges both in performing the dentistry and dealing with your patients. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Career Planning
31/08/2014 Getting through the VT minefield Preview Article Getting through the VT minefield Time to read article: 7 mins Close Preview General Dental Practice is an area of work that demands a complex set of skills and knowledge. Vocational Training (VT) in Scotland or Foundation Training (FT) in England and Wales is the established means of developing these skills in newly qualified dentists. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Professionalism Scotland Career Planning
31/08/2014 Working in my first dental practice Preview Article Working in my first dental practice Time to read article: 4 mins Close Preview Sami Stagnell explains his experiences working in his first practice. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Career Planning
31/08/2014 Tempted to change the records? Preview Article Tempted to change the records? Time to read article: 4 mins Close Preview John Tiernan, Director of Educational Services at Dental Protection explains the importance of the original patient record when your clinical skills face a legal challenge and emphasises the consequences if a dental professional changes a clinical record in an attempt to cover up a mistake. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Professionalism Record Keeping
31/08/2014 Breaking point Preview Article Breaking point Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview Moments arise in all of our lives when reactions occur or decisions are made in an instant but which will have repercussions for months or years to come. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Professionalism
31/08/2014 Tips on talking money Preview Article Tips on talking money Time to read article: 7 mins Close Preview Asking for payment, explaining costly treatments and broaching the subject of bad debts can all be difficult and unfamiliar in the early years of practice. Whilst at dental school, many undergraduates transform the business of asking for money almost into an art form; with the bank manager's direct line stored prominently in the mobile in case urgent funding for an emergency (such as an elective in Aruba) is instantly required! However, on graduating and moving into practice, some dentists find themselves feeling strangely uncomfortable when it comes to asking for payment. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Career Planning
31/08/2014 Planning your careers in dentistry Preview Article Planning your careers in dentistry Time to read article: 6 mins Close Preview Leaving one dental practice and starting afresh is an exciting time, especially when you have a long career in front of you that is full of opportunities. It may therefore seem odd to be thinking about how you are going to leave a practice when some of you are only just beginning to settle in, but there are some important considerations to keep in mind for the future. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Career Planning
31/08/2014 Working for a dental corporate - Is it for you? Preview Article Working for a dental corporate - Is it for you? Time to read article: 5 mins Close Preview Corporate dentistry has taken an increasing share of the NHS dental market since the inception of nGDS in 2006. The largest player, IDH, has slowly and quietly acquired more and more practices and contracts. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Career Planning
31/08/2014 Why dental Practice owners and Associates don't always see eye to eye Preview Article Why dental Practice owners and Associates don't always see eye to eye Time to read article: 6 mins Close Preview Joe Ingham explains why some practice owners and associates don’t always agree during their professional relationship. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Professionalism
31/08/2014 Rural versus metropolitan dental practice Preview Article Rural versus metropolitan dental practice Time to read article: 5 mins Close Preview This article critiques working in a regionally based versus a metropolitan practice in the early phase of your dental career, highlighting the adventures, advantages and pitfalls of each. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Career Planning
31/08/2014 Preparing for purchasing a dental practice Preview Article Preparing for purchasing a dental practice Time to read article: 2 mins Close Preview Raising finance for purchasing a practice is becoming more difficult, despite funds being available and European finance guarantees in place to assist. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Career Planning
31/08/2014 Top Ten Tips to get your perfect job! Preview Article Top Ten Tips to get your perfect job! Time to read article: 1 mins Close Preview The VT process is always changing and it is always under review. Do not make any assumptions and especially don't rely on information from last years candidates.Thoroughly research into the different Deaneries/Postgraduate Centres and their procedures Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Career Planning
31/08/2014 Top Tips for CVs and Applications Preview Article Top Tips for CVs and Applications Time to read article: 1 mins Close Preview Top 5 Tips Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Career Planning
Articles and features 27/08/2014 Tooth surface loss Preview Article Tooth surface loss Time to read article: 4 mins Close Preview Not only is the prevalence of tooth surface loss (TSL) increasing, but clinicians increasingly find themselves facing criticism and challenges regarding its diagnosis and management. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Managing Clinical Risk Generic Dentistry ENT
Articles and features 27/08/2014 Post-operative instructions Preview Article Post-operative instructions Time to read article: 3 mins Close Preview Sadly the dental surgery environment is not always conducive to effective communication. Often the dentist and other members of the dental team are dealing with a variety of patients, all with different needs, and they may be subject to severe time pressures. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Generic Dentistry ENT Managing Clinical Risk
Articles and features 27/08/2014 Co-operation & compliance Preview Article Co-operation & compliance Time to read article: 4 mins Close Preview There are many examples in clinical dentistry of treatment which is largely dependent upon the level of co-operation from the patient, and/or the degree to which the patient follows the advice and recommendations of the clinical team. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Generic Dentistry ENT Managing Clinical Risk
27/08/2014 Recording pain Preview Article Recording pain Time to read article: 3 mins Close Preview One of the advantages of keeping careful and detailed records of a patient’s pain history is that it highlights significant changes and developments in the features of the patient’s symptoms which can, in turn, lead the clinician to the correct diagnosis. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... ENT Generic Dentistry Record Keeping Managing Clinical Risk
Articles and features 27/08/2014 Monitoring early caries Preview Article Monitoring early caries Time to read article: 4 mins Close Preview New techniques, new materials and perhaps more importantly, a shift in treatment philosophies in recent years has led to a greater emphasis upon minimally interventive, preventive approaches to the management of the early carious lesion. In some key respects new technology has helped, and in other respects it has hindered, this process. In a dentolegal sense, the most likely allegation would be that the clinician failed to recognise, act upon and appropriately manage the small or early carious lesion and as a result it was allowed to develop, causing pain and suffering together with the cost and inconvenience of more extensive (and more expensive) treatment. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Managing Clinical Risk Professionalism ENT Generic Dentistry
Articles and features 27/08/2014 Periodontal monitoring Preview Article Periodontal monitoring Time to read article: 4 mins Close Preview People are living longer, and more people are retaining their teeth into later life. Consequently, the overall potential periodontal risk is rapidly increasing. Most allegations of undiagnosed, untreated and under-treated periodontal disease arise when a patient sees a new dentist for the first time. This may result from the retirement of the patient’s previous dentist, or simply because the dentist has left the practice. Sometimes the patient attends a different dentist in an emergency situation, or following the sale of the practice where they have been treated over many years. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Generic Dentistry Periodontics ENT Managing Clinical Risk
26/08/2014 Patient information Preview Article Patient information Time to read article: 4 mins Close Preview In case after case, the question arises of what information a patient was given in advance of their treatment. Obviously, this is material to the quality of the consent obtained from the patient, and yet dentists, hygienists and therapists often find themselves unable to demonstrate with any certainty, exactly what the patient was told, when, and in what terms. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Record Keeping ENT Generic Dentistry Managing Clinical Risk
Articles and features 26/08/2014 Communications between dentists and technicians Preview Article Communications between dentists and technicians Time to read article: 4 mins Close Preview Dentists communicate with their technicians (and vice versa) in a variety of ways, and on a variety of subjects. Yet in the experience of Dental Protection, many valuable opportunities to improve the quality of these communications seem to be missed. Although there has to have been some dialogue, there is often little or no tangible evidence that this was so. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Generic Dentistry Managing Clinical Risk ENT
News and updates 28/01/2013 GDC consultation on CPD for assurance of continuing to practice Preview Article GDC consultation on CPD for assurance of continuing to practice Close Preview We believe that we are uniquely placed to appreciate the role that CPD can play in the areas of professional performance, patient safety and the quality of patient care. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Generic Dentistry Managing Clinical Risk Compliance
Press release 30/10/2012 GDC consultation on draft Investigating Committee indicative outcomes... Preview Article GDC consultation on draft Investigating Committee indicative outcomes guidance Time to read article: 1 mins Close Preview DPL has, since the 2005 Amendment to the Dentists Act 1984 was introduced, been concerned that IC has not been fit for purpose and has produced a steady stream of inconsistent decisions. It has appeared to us that the members of the IC have not understood their role and the standards that they are legally required to apply. Therefore we welcome this latest attempt by GDC to introduce guidance to IC. Specifically we welcome the learning from previous cases although we would commend the use of consistent thought processes in considering cases, rather than a recipe book approach to decision making. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Compliance Managing Clinical Risk Generic Dentistry
Press release 01/04/2012 GDC consultation on modernisation of the fitness to practise procedures Preview Article GDC consultation on modernisation of the fitness to practise procedures Close Preview We believe that we are uniquely placed to appreciate the role that CPD can play in the areas of professional performance, patient safety and the quality of patient care. Our unwavering commitment to CPD is evidenced by the fact that we, and the MPS group of which we are a part, invest substantial resources into providing risk management and educational resources for our members around the world. In 2012 alone this included over 600 educational presentations. Read more Article contains Text Tagged in... Managing Clinical Risk Compliance Generic Dentistry