The Protecting Vulnerable Groups Scheme (PVG Scheme) went live in Scotland on 28 February 2011. This new membership scheme is intended to replace and improve upon the current disclosure arrangements for people who work with vulnerable groups.

The work of the Primary Care Trust or NHS Trust (familiar in England) is performed by the Health Boards and Dentistry under the NHS and is managed by the Practitioner Services Division (PSD).

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) publicationGuidance on a Model Complaints Handling Procedure is accompanied by a Statement of Complaints Handling Principles

The DBS deals with criminal records checks (now known as DBS checks) and is responsible for maintaining the Barred Lists for both children and vulnerable adults. Inclusion on the barred list precludes an individual from participating in a regulated activity with the relevant group. For the purposes of this scheme dentistry is considered to be a regulated activity and all adult patients are considered to be vulnerable. Thus inclusion on either or both lists would effectively bring an end to a dentist or dental care professionals practice.

Dental professionals are required to make and keep accurate dental records of care provided to patients, whether NHS or private. Dental Protection is frequently contacted by members who want to understand how long records should be retained by the practice.

It is important to be prepared for the possibility of oral surgery procedures in practice. Indeed, access to a basic surgical kit is essential. Dental extractions are one of the most common oral surgery procedures carried out by GDPs.

Dentistry can be a testing environment; Reena Wadia offers a selection of ideas to help you evolve into the perfect practitioner.

With the long, warm summer evenings and the smell of BBQs filling the air, it’s all too easy to open a cool beer, bottle of chilled wine or mix up the Pimms. Potential risks of alcohol on our oral and general health by Sarah Bradbury.

Stephen Henderson describes a campaign that has fundamentally changed the way in which the GDC’s Investigating Committee operates

The law on “informed” consent has changed following a recent Supreme Court judgment

The report of the Intercollegiate Advisory Committee for Sedation (IACS) in Dentistry was published in April 2015 and replaces the previous document, Conscious Sedation in the Provision of Dental Care (Department of Health 2003)

Resistance to shared decision making often revolves around a perception that dentists have many patients who wish the dentist to make the decision for them. Whatever you think best. The difficulty is that just as Dentists have preferences for their style of decision making, patients also have preferences as to their desired level of involvement.

Some important facts that we think you will find surprising

“Don’t go and blow all of your money during your first week” was perhaps the best piece of advice in my early university career.

The moment I saw the metal sign ‘Dr S.Kaddour’ being drilled onto my surgery door I felt a small lump develop in my throat.

Emily Hooper graduated from Bristol Dental School in 2013. She completed DF1 in Bath and has since completed Dental Core Trainee positions in Bristol and Newcastle. She currently works as a DCT 3 in Paediatric Dentistry.

Satnam graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2015 with honours and a clinical distinction in dentistry. She then went on to successfully complete her foundation training in the West Midlands.

An introduction and overview of pulp stones.

Having qualified, and started work, you should now have an excess of income; your net pay, over expenditure.

Dental Protection has called on the Government to implement a package of legal reforms to help tackle the rising cost of clinical negligence, and the challenging claims environment for dentists.

Dental Protection has welcomed the General Dental Council’s (GDC) commitment to provide greater clarity on how and when it will use its formal Fitness to Practise enforcement powers as a solution to managing serious risk to patients.

Saleem Hasanally is in his third year post-qualification after choosing to do his vocational training over two years at Porth Dental Teaching Unit in Wales. If you're thinking DFT is the only way, read Saleem's experience of training another way.

The key to complaints handling is a flexibility of approach. The complaints handling process should adapt to the needs of a patient and not the other way round. Although there is no single way to handle a complaint, there are some key steps that should always be considered...