Allocate sufficient time to form a diagnosis & record both the diagnosis and the treatment indicated in the patient’s record.

When I started out, beginning from scratch was almost always better. There was a shortage of dentists in many rural areas, and you could open and be instantly busy. Those days are gone.

I didn’t really want to work for anyone else when I graduated, I just liked the idea of being my own boss and so I found my own premises to set up in. I’m happy still with the decisions and choices I made, although it came with challenges...

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A guide to help prevent extraction of the wrong tooth on referral from an orthodontist by Dr Steven Burlinson

I was working as a young graduate dentist some years ago. I had three years of experience since graduating, and like many dentists starting their careers I worked at two different practices. I had recently started doing three days per week at a practice unsupervised and I felt confident in my clinical experience to do this, comforted by the knowledge that I could refer if required...

The prospects for 2015 became exciting and far more concrete when I was given the opportunity to take up a full-time position in Roma with the South West Hospital and Health Service. After a quick Google search of how far away Roma actually was, I decided on a country change; from the white sandy beaches of Gold Coast to the red soil of south-west Queensland...

I don’t think that I was taught orthodontics very well at an undergraduate level. That is to say, I think our lecturers scared us off it, telling us that it was best left to ‘the experts’ and so I didn't leave dental school feeling in any way confident to treat orthodontic patients.