What may seem a run-of-the-mill appointment for the dentist can often be a major event for the patient. Keeping detailed records of discussions and warnings is essential...

What happens when experts disagree? Clinical opinion can and will differ from dentist to dentist, and as this case shows, sometimes the best option is to bring the experts together...

Allocate sufficient time to form a diagnosis & record both the diagnosis and the treatment indicated in the patient’s record.

I’m the sort of person that cares too much and becomes emotionally committed to my patients. While kind and caring patients appreciate this, when a patient sets out to destroy you it takes over your own life instead...

When I started out, beginning from scratch was almost always better. There was a shortage of dentists in many rural areas, and you could open and be instantly busy. Those days are gone.

I didn’t really want to work for anyone else when I graduated, I just liked the idea of being my own boss and so I found my own premises to set up in. I’m happy still with the decisions and choices I made, although it came with challenges...

A guide to help prevent extraction of the wrong tooth on referral from an orthodontist by Dr Steven Burlinson

I was working as a young graduate dentist some years ago. I had three years of experience since graduating, and like many dentists starting their careers I worked at two different practices. I had recently started doing three days per week at a practice unsupervised and I felt confident in my clinical experience to do this, comforted by the knowledge that I could refer if required...

The prospects for 2015 became exciting and far more concrete when I was given the opportunity to take up a full-time position in Roma with the South West Hospital and Health Service. After a quick Google search of how far away Roma actually was, I decided on a country change; from the white sandy beaches of Gold Coast to the red soil of south-west Queensland...

Children can often be the foundation stone of a successful dental practice as how you treat and look after someone’s child will often influence the attendance patterns of the parents and other family members.

I don’t think that I was taught orthodontics very well at an undergraduate level. That is to say, I think our lecturers scared us off it, telling us that it was best left to ‘the experts’ and so I didn't leave dental school feeling in any way confident to treat orthodontic patients.

As a fresh graduate, I started working in the public system in a small country town with another graduate and a mentor/senior dentist who would come by a few times a month to extract wisdom teeth.

An innocent enough question but, when an adverse incident occurs, make sure the patient’s welfare is your main priority...

Nobody gets up in the morning intending on harming someone, I know that, and I am no different.