Ask DPL

Dental Protection receives hundreds of enquires every week. As a service to members we publish some of the frequently asked questions on this page. This general advice may not always provide the complete answer in your own situation. Click here to request more information.

Q. What information must be published on a dental practice website in the UK?
Q. My dental nurse wants to buy into the business which is registered as a dental body corporate. Is that legal?
Q. What happens when the patient's cardiologist insists that in spite of NICE guidance, antibiotic cover must still be provided?
Q. Do I need any additional indemnity when I am supervising a younger colleague?
Q. I was thinking of creating a series of consent forms to be stored on the surgery computer and asking patients to sign the one appropriate to their treatment prior to starting the work...
Q. I am a hygienist who is interested in providing tooth whitening for patients. Can you advise me what training is needed for me to provide this treatment legally?
Q. I own an NHS practice and have just received a Freedom of Information (FOI) request from an unknown person...
Q. If a dentist writes a prescription in the patients notes to supply high concentration fluoride toothpaste, which is then dispensed and sold at reception, how long does this prescription last?
Q. I work full-time in the Community Dental Service and have been informed that my employers are no longer the Primary Care Trust...
Q. I am a dental nurse and I recently took a course on making impressions. Does my indemnity with DPL extend to such procedures?
Q. I am an associate in a practice and my dental nurse is frequently off sick...
Q. I would like to advertise my surgery on a local internet music streaming service...
Q. Is it illegal for a hygienist to treat a patient who has not seen a dentist for three years?
Q. If a patient has not been seen by a dentist for three years or less can the hygienist arrange for the dentist to come in at the hygiene appointment, before treatment starts, and the dentist can then write a prescription/referral?
Q. When a dentist refers to a hygienist can he/she give a prescription for 3/6 monthly or any regular recall appointment valid for three years? Should there be an expiry date?
Q. Can dental hygienists and therapists prescribe radiographs?
Q. I would like to use a discount offer to attract new patients to my practice for non-surgical cosmetic treatment...
Q. I have just completed the Invisalign certification course and want to start treating patients in my surgery. Does my DPL membership indemnify me for this?
Q. According to BDA advice sheet (A12), instruments marked as single use should be thrown away after each patient. The same document also refers to new regulations...
Q. I am a registered dentist during the week but I would like to provide home tooth whitening trays with 16% carbamide peroxide at a local beauty salon...
Q. Please can you advise me how I should respond to a request from my employer to work alone during periods of staff sickness and staff holidays?
Q. My local gymnasium has asked me to provided bleaching sessions in a vacant treatment room at the site...
Q. I have indemnity with DPL as a clinical dental technician and I have been asked by a dentist to go into his practice and provide NHS patients with dentures...
Q. A patient came to see me after another colleague had inspected his mouth. The patient said he felt the other dentist push something up next to one of his implants and that he could feel pressure after the visit...
Q. Can a student orthodontic therapist work in the period between completing a recognised course (and hopefully passing!) and receiving the certificate from the Royal College and, in turn, registration with the GDC?
Q. I work as an associate in two different practices and am worried about the vicarious liability implications for the staff...
Q. Can DCPs take alginate impressions?
Q. We want to go paperless. If the patient signs their medical history form or a treatment plan can we scan the form into the computer record and destroy the paper form...
Q. I have been asked to give smoking cessation advice to a patient who is having multiple implants placed in 6 weeks time.
Q. Should my nurse sign when writing up my patients' notes?
Q. I noticed that the practice manager had been inserting additional treatments into my patient notes...
Q. My dentist prescribes whitening treatments for me to carry out which I am happy to do as I have been trained and feel competent...
Q. I am a dental hygienist and I have recently trained to deliver botulinum toxin...
Q. Working as a hygienist treating many senior citizens I am sometimes worried about the accuracy of the medical history that I receive from the patients particularly if they are on anti-coagulants...
Q. I am about to start working as a dental hygienist in three NHS practices. What documentation should I prepare in advance for the different employers...
Q. I have done a course on anti-snoring devices and want to know if I am indemnified to provide the treatment as a service to patients who snore or who have suffer from obstructive sleep apnoea?
Q. I am a registered dental hygienist and dental therapist but unable to find suitable work at the moment. Am I allowed to undertake locum work as dental nurse in the meantime?
Q. What should I do for a patient with active periodontal disease if they do not want to pay for private treatment?
Q. The practice owner has told me not to use local anaesthetic routinely for fillings and has asked me to economise by using it only in those cases where the patient will be in extreme pain...
Q. Following a road accident my patient requested a report and a quotation for repairing her damaged teeth...
Q. Am I obliged to offer a treatment to a patient under the NHS even if it is not profitable for me?
Q. I am a dental hygienist and I have recently trained to deliver botulinum toxin...
Q. Working as a hygienist treating many senior citizens I am sometimes worried about the accuracy of the medical history that I receive from the patients particularly if they are on anti-coagulants...
Q. I am planning to establish a new NHS dental surgery with three dentists and two dental nurses what indemnity do I have to have for the employees?
Q. I am about to start working as a dental hygienist in three NHS practices...
Q. A new patient has registered with our NHS practice and has requested that she remains with the hygienist at her old private practice with whom she has a good relationship...
Q. I have just started work in a new practice where I have been asked to treat a number of patients who are unhappy about treatment provided by a dentist who has since left...
Q. Can you advise me about the Data Protection Act as it applies to collecting our patients’ email addresses?
Q. One of our hygienists reported that her indemnifier had told her that if she ever had a claim it would be hard to defend...
Q. My hygienists want to learn to take impressions and to carry out tooth whitening...
Q. When my usual nurse is unavailable, the practice manager will often allocate a trainee nurse to work with me. The trainee nurse, however, has not completed her course of Hep B vaccinations...
Q. What are the criteria for becoming an expert witness?
Q. Is there any legal requirement about the length of time a dentist needs to keep patients’ clinical records?
Q. I am an associate and my practice principal has shown me a copy of his CQC provider application. I am concerned that he has declared himself to be ‘non-compliant’...
Q. My colleague has not yet recorded any CPD. She says there is no requirement to undertake CPD every year and is prepared to do it all within the last six months of her five year cycle.
Q. I have been asked to provide smoking cessation advice to a patient who is to have multiple implants placed in six weeks time...
Q. I have a number of elderly patients who come to me privately but who are eligible to receive free NHS prescriptions. I have several times been asked if I can provide them with an NHS prescription when medication has been required. It seems such a reasonable request.
Q. In the course of my work, I occasionally have to visit a patient at home due to their ill health...
Q. I am retiring in three months time but as yet I have been unable to sell the practice. I am wondering what to do with the patient records and also about the need to continue my professional indemnity until the practice is sold?
Q. Our practice recently held a CPR/medical emergencies update session. It covered the administration of first line drugs ie. oxygen, adrenaline, glucose, glucagon, midazolam, GTN, aspirin and salbutamol...
Q. I would like to leave my current associate position as I have been offered a position in a practice six miles away. My current contract states that I am not allowed to work within an eight mile radius of the current practice...
Q. I am a hygienist working in a maxillofacial unit treating head and neck cancer. Can you please advise if I can take referrals from ENT surgeons to provide fluoride treatment and oral health advice?
Q. I employ an associate who regularly leaves his patient in the surgery with the dental nurse whilst goes outside to get fresh air or to get something to eat...
Q. I have found a particularly negative review about my practice on a website...
Q. I am a practice owner who is taking time off from the practice to undergo an episode of elective surgery which will stop me working for the partnership for several months. I have arranged a locum to treat patients in my absence but I wanted to ask;
Q. If I do not manage to register with CQC in time and continue to see patients after 1 April 2011, would this be a criminal or civil offence?
Q. If it is illegal for dentists to use bleaching agents containing high levels of peroxide how can non-dentists, certain websites, and beauty salons get away with it? Has the law changed?
Q. I am a therapist who is currently working without a dentist on the premises due to holidays. Is it possible for me to place a temporary dressing for a patient who has lost a filling?
Q. I am always been given old equipment in my surgery and I have recently inherited the old Little Sister steriliser, as it is being replaced by new fully computerised one. I have been told that I cannot use the central sterilising facility because my surgery is on the fourth floor and I will waste too much time moving from the ground floor room to my surgery. I am not sure that this steriliser is even fit for purpose. I am sure that we are supposed to be conforming to HTML0105 for central sterilisation. Where do I stand legally on this?
Q. It has come to light that a dental nurse colleague of mine has failed to renew her registration with the GDC, but is still working clinically. How should this situation be managed by the practice principal? In the meantime is my registration compromised if she continues to assist me in the surgery?
Q. How long have I got to comply with the decontamination guidance from the Department of Health?
Q. I am a dental hygienist. Is it true that I need to ask a dentist to write a prescription before I can use fluoride varnish for a patient?
Q. What is ‘adequate and appropriate' indemnity to protect a patient when a dentist undertakes non-surgical cosmetic treatment (NSCT)?
Q. CQC refer to providers. What about a practice which trades as a single entity but where all the dentists are providers, each with their own contract (rather than performers in one contract); who needs to register with CQC?
Q. Will clinics providing only cosmetic treatments, such as tooth whitening need to be registered with CQC, as this does not involve treatment of a disease, disorder or injury? Secondly will non GDC registrants who provide tooth whitening services need to be registered?
Q. When it comes to registering with CQC how should this be undertaken if several practices are owned by the same provider, operated as an overall group or trading entity but not incorporated in part or whole?
Q. In the case of dental corporations (ie, limited companies which own and operate dental practices), do each of the practices owned by the corporate need to be registered separately with CQC?
Q. The CQC has said that they will be inviting practice registrations in a series of windows from October 2010 onwards. I have booked a three-week cruise this winter do you know;
Q. Is an aspirating technique essential for administering local anaesthetic as an inferior dental block? I would prefer to use the technique but there are no aspirating syringes where I work.
Q. Is there any legal obligation to take photographs of the patient’s teeth prior to undertaking bleaching?
Q. I would like to obtain the IHAS Quality Mark for my practice in order that I can benefit from up to 10 hours a week inclusive indemnity available to DFU and DFN members who provide injectable cosmetic treatment. When will the Quality Mark become available?
Q. Do you know where I can learn more about a possible allergic reaction to local anaesthetic??
Q. Can I withdraw from treating a patient?
Q. What happens if my practice fails an inspection?
Q. When does my NHS practice have to register with the Care Quality Commission?
Q. In order to extract a lower first molar it was necessary to repeat the ID block three times. The patient now has some residual numbness of the lower lip. How should I manage the situation?
Q. What is the minimum frequency that a patient has to have a check up with a dentist in order to have hygiene treatment with a hygienist?
Q. If a clinical dental technician (CDT) referred a patient to a dentist for a treatment plan involving a partial chrome denture and the dentist designed the chrome denture which the technician manufactured and fitted and subsequently a natural tooth broke down due to the design of the denture, which clinician is responsible for the failed treatment?
Q. If a dentist and a DCP were in conflict and were both brought to GDC for a Fitness to Practise hearing how would Dental Protection deal with the apparent conflict of interest? Would they support the dentist and not the DCP?
Q. I have a letter from a solicitor on behalf of a patient regarding trauma to her front tooth in order for her to make a claim. I have already given the patient a letter explaining the various options and costs depending on the success of the first line approach to root fill the tooth. Her solicitor has now asked me to estimate the likelihood of the possible need for an implant if an extraction is required so that this can be included in the claim.
Q. I treat anxious adult patients with RA and have recently been advised that they must always attend the surgery with an escort. Is this really the case?
Q. I have been asked by another practice to supply the radiographs of a patient who has moved away. As the request came from the practice manager do I need the written permission of the patient and what fee can I make for the service
Q. If I refund a patient their fees in response to a complaint am I admitting liability?
Q. Can a dental hygienist or dental therapist carry out non-surgical cosmetic treatment (NSCT)?
Q. Is the use of botulinum toxin really the practise of dentistry?
Q. Is there any legal requirement about the length of time a dentist needs to keep patients’ clinical records?
Q. I undertake domiciliary visits as part of my job and I wondered if it is necessary for me to carry the same emergency drugs that I keep in the surgery. Would I need to do this if I was visiting a nursing home with its own supply of emergency drugs?
Q. I have recently completed a course on facial aesthetics and would now like to start providing treatment. Would I need any indemnity if I provided this treatment at a ‘botox party'?
Q. I am an NHS provider and will soon have used up all my UDAs for the year which ends in March. Am I allowed to hold back completed treatments that I provide in March and submit them in April?
Q. If a patient is under 16, who can consent to their treatment?
Q. If a patient wants to come to our practice for hygiene treatment, but retain their own dentist to provide dental treatment, what is the best way to obtain a correct referral to me, the hygienist?
Q. As a DCP, have experienced a couple of issues recently regarding infection control protocols in the practice. The senior partner says that he recognises the BDA infection control guidelines but that ‘guidelines' can be interpreted as he sees fit. Where do I stand here?
Q. My dentist has asked me to undertake tray bleaching for patients and has offered to train me. I haven't attended any courses or studied any theory on the subject. Would the GDC consider me competent?
Q. A new patient arrives at the practice late on a Friday afternoon with a loose crown. There isn't a dentist available but the hygienist has completed the course for temporary dressing placement/ crown recementing. Should the hygienist treat the patient?
Q. The dentist I work for is considering adding facial aesthetics to the list of services our practice offers to patients and wants me to train to use Botox and fillers. I am not sure that this is where I wanted to take my career. Where do I stand legally and ethically if I want to follow this up?
Q. I have received a letter from the GDC advising me that my name has been removed from the GDC register for non-payment of my annual retention fee. I have been working without realising that my registration had lapsed and I have now requested a restoration form - is it ok to continue working in the meantime?
Q. I am a dental hygienist and have recently moved to a new town. Whilst applying for jobs I recently attended an interview with a dentist who asked to see my General Dental Council (GDC) certificate of registration and some proof of indemnity. I showed the dentist my GDC certificate, but was unable to provide a current certificate of indemnity because I had let my subscription lapse a few years ago, when the cost increased and I was trying to save some money for a holiday. I then forgot about it and failed to renew the subscription. The dentist subsequently notified the GDC that I was working without indemnity and now I have been sent a letter from the GDC saying that I am to face an Interim Orders Committee. Please can you tell me what this means and what I should do?
Q. A patient has requested their dental x-rays because they want to have dental treatment provided abroad where it is cheaper. Can I give them to the patient?
Q. Are hygienists allowed to carry out power bleaching (with the use of light) and what proof of suitable training would be required to carry out this procedure?
Q. Can I refuse to treat an aggresive patient?
Q. I asked to see a certificate of indemnity from a new associate that I want to employ. The dentist in question showed me a broker’s certificate for a policy backed by Lloyds but which had an excess of £5,000 for each claim. Is this valid?
Q. Could a male hygienist be vulnerable to accusations of a sexual nature from females unless there is a dental nurse or a chaperone present?
Q. My dentist consistently omits to check the medical history form or get the patient to sign it.
Q. I use a digital camera in my practice and frequently use these images when lecturing. Do I need specific consent of each patient, every time I use the pictures?
Q. I am keen to involve my hygienist in providing tooth whitening in the surgery for our patients. What are the legal and training requirements?
Q. I am worried by two pieces of advice from the GDC about bleaching.
Q. I have closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in my practice both for security reason as well as staff training purposes. What legal obligations apply to this material?
Q. A patient was obviously in pain whilst being treated by the hygienist.
Q. Can I take pictures of patients with a camera phone and send them to colleagues/specialists for an opinion or advice?
Q. How does a clinician adhere to the Data Protection Act (1998) when ordering items for their patients from a dental laboratory?
Q. When an NHS patient requests me to use a tooth-coloured material in their posterior teeth, must I comply with this request instead of using amalgam?
Q. Is it reasonable to take an extra x-ray just for the record?
Q. Using automatic external defibrillators without any training in an emergency in the absence of any trained users.
Q. What should I do about obtaining the records of a patient who was treated abroad or who lives abroad?
Q. Can you tell me if the dental nurses assisting in the process of sedation need any particular training?
Q. I am running out of space. Where and how do I keep my records?
Q. Should I only see patients in the presence of a registered nurse?
Q. What do I do about records when I move to a new practice and patients ask to be treated there?
Q. I've received a letter from a solicitor proposing action against me; what should I do?
Q. What do I do with my records when I sell the practice?
Q. I have joined a practice that is owned by a dentist who belongs to a different defence organisation. He has told me that I need to join his defence organisation because my dental nurse will not have indemnity. Is this true?
Q. With the new NHS contract in England, there is no longer an NHS disciplinary process. Is it the same in Northern Ireland?
Q. My former practice has just contacted me to say that a patient is now complaining that there is a problem with a tooth I filled many years ago. She has regularly attended the same surgery and has been examined by two other associates. Can I really be held responsible for her problem?
Q. I will be inserting dental implants for private patients one day a week at a practice in Wales and have been told that I need to register with the Healthcare Inspectorate. Is this correct?
Q. I have been told that the Health and Safety Executive requires every dental practice to appoint a first-aider. Is that correct and what happens if the first aider has time off? Is it illegal to continue working?
Q. Is there any legal requirement about the length of time a dentist needs to keep patients’ clinical records?
Q. I have been offered a job in an NHS practice in Scotland and want to know how it might differ from working in England
Q. I have read that dental practice websites need to include a link to the General Dental Council website. Is this true?
Q. I am a dental hygienist with training in acupuncture. Am I allowed to use these techniques in the dental setting and do I need any additional indemnity?
Q. If I scan medical history forms, consent forms, lab docs in an attempt to reduce the volume of our paper records am I obliged retain the original paper documents or will the scanned copies suffice?
Q. If an NHS patient makes a verbal complaint can it be resolved informally?
Q. I have seen a radiograph reporting service on the internet which offers to provide a same-day interpretation of digital images for a relatively small cost. Am I at risk if do so?
Q. If I receive a complaint from a patient by email do the new NHS regulations allow me to respond by email?
Q. If I refund the patient's fees, am I admitting liability and risking a future claim?
Q. Does the GDC define the training required for a dentist to provide dental treatment for patients under sedation?
Q. Is it advisable for a dentist to apologise if a patient experiences pain after treatment?
Q. Do I need to buy an automatic external defibrillator for the surgery?