The GDC needs to drastically improve its fitness to practise procedures after a survey by Dental Protection found that 94% of respondents had suffered stress and anxiety while being investigated – while we also raised concerns with the Health Select Committee that procedures are slow, disproportionate and, in some cases, unnecessary.

Dental Protection’s 2015 Annual Review, titled “Change”, will soon be sent to 66,000 members. The publication is a collaborative effort by 66 dento-legal advisers who serve members on five continents.

Megan graduated from King's College London (GKT) in 2012. Since then she has worked in private and NHS practices in Essex. Megan is currently the young dentist representative for the Essex local BDA.

Jon Benton is a 4th Year dental student at Manchester. 'My article is designed to give advice and some helpful tips for the first time a young dentist begins treating their new paediatric patients with special requirements, based on my own experience. The purpose of this article is to share my knowledge by giving a helping hand on how to deal with patients with autism, ADHD and other mental health disorders.'

Hannah Darby studied at the University of Sheffield and graduated in 2014. She is currently half way through her first year of foundation training in London on the South East scheme. Hannah has written this article to share her experience and inspire other young dentists to embark on a journey of a lifetime.

Thomas Bradshaw is currently a second year BDS Dental Student at The University of Manchester. He finds self-motivation a key player in getting through your training in Dental school. Yet he understands far too well, that it is a lot harder when you don't understand the real reason behind the certain topics that you invest time into studying.

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

Nikki Patel graduated from Kings College London in 2010. Having completed her foundation training year within the Oxford Deanery, she then spent two years as an associate in general dental practice. Following this she decided to gain secondary care experience working as a dental core trainee in oral and maxillofacial surgery, before securing a post as a community dental officer.

Priya Mistry is a second year dental student on the four year graduate entry programme at UCLAN School of Medicine & Dentistry

Rosie is currently a final year student at Barts and the London. During her fourth year she went on an Erasmus Exchange to the Karolinska Institute in Sweden for three months. Rosie says, "Whilst there, I was able to treat patients and it was a good experience to both practise dentistry and to live in another country."

A Dental Protection survey of over 700 dental members reveals that nine in 10 respondents believe they are more likely to be sued now than five years ago.1 Of those, 81% believe the rise in media coverage of clinical negligence is the main reason, followed by high patient expectations (58%) and workload making it difficult to provide the best care (28%).

The Health Select Committee put Dental Protection’s concerns directly to the GDC at the accountability hearing yesterday. The GDC’s Chief Executive Evlynne Gilvarry and Chair Bill Moyes were asked to address our questions about the fairness of the GDC’s Fitness to Practise procedures.

Rosie studied at the University of Sheffield and qualified in 2011. "Having been qualified for over three years, I've worked in five different practices, along with many older dentists. I'm always interested to see how other dentists work, and what works for them. I have written this article to share the different techniques and approaches used by dentists trained at different times."