With the new year approaching, Raj Rattan, Dental Director at Dental Protection, has set out his hopes for significant change to address the challenges in dentistry.

The winners of the inaugural research competition for UK foundation dentists launched by Dental Protection in partnership with the MPS Foundation has produced noteworthy projects to improve periodontal care.

Dental Protection has called on the new UK Government to prioritise critical issues currently impacting dental professionals and patients - including access to NHS dentistry, GDC and clinical negligence claims reform, child oral health, and growth of and support for the dental workforce.

Dental Protection has welcomed the GDC’s decision to no longer publish determinations made by the Interim Orders Committee prior to a review or hearing, as part of its commitment to reduce the impact of the fitness to practise process on dental professionals’ mental wellbeing.

The MPS Foundation – a global not-for-profit research initiative that aims to shape the future of patient safety – has opened for applications for its 2024 grant programme.

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More than half of dental professionals in the UK (57%) who took part in a survey say their mental health is worse now than it was during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the Dental Protection survey of over 1,300 dental professionals in the UK, over a third (36%) also say fear of dentolegal issues arising from staff shortages is having a negative impact on their mental health.

In a Dental Protection survey of over 1,300 UK dental professionals, more than half (57%) say they have experienced or witnessed verbal or physical abuse from patients or their relatives in the past 12 months, with 64% of those saying the incidents resulted from frustration over long waiting times for appointments and 59% saying it related to the treatment they received.

Dental Protection – the world’s leading not-for-profit, member-owned dental defence organisation – is proud to achieve the industry-recognised Menopause Friendly Accreditation.

In the case of GDC v. Williams, the Court of Appeal handed down judgment and held that supplemental fees (described as top-up fees) in addition to the NHS charge were permitted under the NHS Regulations - in this particular case for a more aesthetically pleasing ceramic crown.