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

An introduction and overview of pulp stones.

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...

In addition to several references in the press to “dirty dentists” this is the month that the case of Dr D’Mello returned to the GDC. More importantly, when the case is reported in the national press it has the potential to suggest that dental surgeries may not be safe or that cross - infection standards have been disregarded. One way to avoid such suspicion is to share your infection control routines with your patients at an early stage when they first come for treatment; adopt an “open house” policy.

Here are the Dental Protection resources which you may find helpful as part of your preparation for your inspection.

When the practice receives a complaint it must acknowledge the complaint not later than 3 working days after the day on which it was received. At the same time, an offer must be made to discuss with the patient the handling of the complaint and the likely period for the investigation and response.

Standards for the Dental Team is published by the General Dental Council (GDC) and came into effect 30 September 2013. The document sets out the standards of conduct, performance and ethics that govern dental professionals in the United Kingdom. It specifies the principles, standards and guidance which apply to all members of the dental team, and also sets out what patients can expect from a dental professional.

Patients are often prompted to visit the dentist because they have been experiencing pain or discomfort.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.