Risk taking: Is defensive dentistry rife in the UK?

Making an IMPACTT: A framework for developing a dentist's ability to provide comprehensive dental care

This article highlights the benefits of comprehensive dental care for both practitioners and patients, and the ways in which dentists and their teams through upskilling, collaboration, and thoughtful patient communication can provide care across every stage of the treatment process. More specifically, it outlines a framework for the importance of clinical education that focuses on the mindset of patient-centred care and taking a comprehensive approach to treatment using evidence-based dentistry.

Dental tourists: treat, re-treat or do not treat?

Many UK patients in the search for their perfect smile have now decided to have their dental treatment abroad, the main reasons being that they believe they can have the same treatment but at a much lower price. With many overseas clinics offering treatment packages that also include a holiday, dental tourism seems an opportunity not to be missed. Although not always the case, some treatments unfortunately do not go to plan, often leaving distraught patients and their apprehensive dentists in a difficult situation. This article will discuss the reasons behind dental tourism and if the health system has contributed to the increasing demand for dental tourism. We will touch on the impact dental tourism has had on UK dentistry and if the NHS should be responsible for handling the consequences of any failed or incomplete dental treatment carried out abroad. It will also put the spotlight on dentists' responsibilities and to what extent they should treat these patients, as these cases can leave clinicians in primary and secondary care in a challenging predicament, not only clinically but also ethically and medico-legally.