In the depths of winter my time spent providing dentistry in the Peruvian Amazon this summer seems very far away. But what an amazing experience it was!

If you are a member of Dental Protection and you need advice following a complaint, you have access to our expert team of dento-legal advisers.

We are unique in that we are the only UK-based defence organisation serving 64,000 dental members worldwide. This gives us a wide experience and may make it possible for your membership to travel with you.

Ciara graduated from University College Cork in 2013, from there she completed foundation training on the Charing Cross scheme in London. Ciara is now in her DCT1 year in maxillofacial surgery in Northampton General Hospital.

Surinder Poonian graduated from Sheffield in 2011 and completed her DFY1 placement on the Whipps Cross Scheme based in London.  After this she worked as an oral surgery DFY2. She has since worked as a locum GDP and is now doing a CDP post in restorative dentistry. Surinder is one of the young dentist representatives within the Metropolitan Branch of the BDA.

Treatment of your first patient is, without doubt, one of the biggest hurdles in the dental career pathway. Kalpesh Prajapat a fourth year Dental Student, shares his experience on the invasive treatment of his first paediatric patient; highlighting the fundamentals to success.

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.

A young dentist shares his experience of foundation training and how to provide the best patient care to achieve a happy patient.

Hannah Morison graduated from Cardiff Dental School in 2012. Hannah currently works as an SHO in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery in Northern Ireland. She has also undertaken a year of training as an SHO in Orthodontics and Paediatric Dentistry at the Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

Over 250 dental professionals attended the joint Dental Protection and schülke conference – Premier Symposium – for an insight into the challenges of complex clinical, ethical and dento-legal issues.

Hiten Halai graduated in 2012 from Barts and The London. After foundation training he completed a Restorative and General Duties DF2 post at The Royal London Dental Hospital. He is currently working as a private associate in Singapore.

Milan Chande graduated from the University of Manchester Dental School in 2014. He say's "My personal interest and knowledge in technology of a fair number of years has encouraged me to write this article." "My intentions were to help young dentists be more aware of the risks of using cloud-based backup services, and to offer advice on protecting their data when using these services."

If you are thinking of applying for a new job, you need to have an impressive CV. It may not guarantee you the position, but it will get you noticed in the first place. The first step in job hunting is to be noticed and secure that first interview for the post you have applied for. If your current CV has been left on the shelf since your last role then it is more than likely out of date.

Laura Daly is a final year dental student studying at Peninsula Dental School.  She has written this article to give other dental students considering volunteering an insight into what it can be like working in a less developed country, and how valuable the experience can be.

Laura writes about an account of her own experiences with depression during her dentistry degree, and how best to help someone suffering from depression. 

You need to impress during your dental foundation training assessments. This article will provide you with tips and techniques to use during your assessments.

Jessica Scott studied at The University of Bristol and graduated in July 2014. Jessica is starting her dental foundation training in September, at a practice in Amesbury. Jessica wrote this article to share some of her experiences of volunteering abroad, whilst volunteering in Cambodia and to highlight some of the difficulties she encountered.

James Chesterman graduated from the University of Birmingham in 2011 and is currently working part time at the Leeds Dental Institute as a specialty dentist in the restorative department and an associate at Ivory Dental Practice in Leeds.

Sharon studied a Bachelor of Dental Science at the University of Western Australia. Sharon say's "I wanted to write this article as my colleagues and I all suffer with back pain and I wanted to address these issues."

Natalie studied at The University of Newcastle and qualified June 2014. She has written this article as a guide for final year dentists to help them through the job application process. Natalie says "I would have found this type of guide very useful when applying for DF1 last year"

After her foundation year Charlotte Leigh applied for a DF2 post in Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery. Charlotte has now been an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery SHO for six months and has compiled a list of the ten most important things she has learnt along the way.

The good, the bad and the ugly.