Over the recent years the UK has become a significantly litigious country. Litigations faced by dentists are far more common now than what they used to be.

It is often the case that when you become an associate for the first time, you may not fully understand the implications of being self-employed. The associate ship arrangement is unique to the dental industry and therefore you shouldn't be afraid to ask questions about the arrangement with your practice owner.

Theesan Vedan studied at the University of The Western Cape in January 2013. He has since taken up a position as a Military Dentist for the South African Defence. Theesan is dedicated in pursuing a career in dental education and has a keen interest in writing, especially if it is dental related.

Every new practice is an opportunity to gain new experiences, meet new patients, work with new professional colleagues, try different things and hopefully learn and develop in some way.

Thomas Coates is a Partner and Head of The Dental Team at LCF Law. In this article he explains the steps you should take if you are considering buying a dental practice.

Nelson Wan qualified from the University of Glasgow in 2013. He is part of the West 1 VT scheme and work as a Foundation Dental Practitioner (FDP) in Ayrshire and Arran in a mixed NHS/Independent/Denplan practice. He has interests in endodontics, restorative dentistry and cosmetic dentistry - especially short-term orthodontics.

Haris Batley graduated in 2008 from The University of Manchester. He worked in a general practice before commencing foundation training in an Oral and Maxillo Facial Surgery.

Karen Grealis graduated from Dublin in 2012. In this article she shares some of her tips for starting working in a dental practice.

Shandy qualified from Barts and the London 2010, she has since worked in various general practices, and is currently at a practice participating in the pilot scheme.

When I graduated from Birmingham in 2003 the dental career pathway was simple. Either you would practise in hospital as a specialist via the (previously) insular MFDS route or you would work in general dental practice.

Dr. Andrew Wong is a recent graduate of the University of Sydney and is on the Young Dentist Committee in Australia. He is currently working in public and private practice in Sydney.

Sonia Khela qualified from Birmingham Dental School in 2010. She then undertook vocational training in the South Yorkshire East Midlands Deanery and opted to go into general practice rather than apply for a DF2 post.

A young dentist discusses her thoughts on how patient management should be managed in the transition from university to general practice.

Whenever we think about the law and ethics we often include them in the same breath, rolling them together as one interchangeable concept, and while they are inextricably linked, naturally, it is possible to have one without the other.

Davina Graham graduated with honours from Trinity College Dublin in 2012. She is currently working as a Foundational Dental Practitioner (FDP) at Millersneuk Dental Practice, in Glasgow, Scotland.

For many years orthodontics has been regarded as a relatively low-risk field of dentistry with few dento-legal problems arising. Times have changed and we are currently seeing an increasing number of claims and complaints involving orthodontics.

I've now returned to general dental practice after completing a year in max fax. But it was only after leaving I realised that during the course of the whole year, I hadn't actually taken the time to reflect on why I wanted to do it and what I'd actually gained from it.

Neil Morrison gives advice on making the change from salaried employment to self employment. Neil is a partner with Campbell Dallas LLP, Chartered Accountants - specialists in the Healthcare market.

There are many young practitioners who seem to think that working in private dentistry must be the equivalent of living in Utopia.

Recently I needed a new toothbrush.

R U E-AWARE? It is not always appreciated that these new forms of communication are required to conform to the same professional and ethical standards as the more traditional media.

Finbar O'Mahony reflects on his first six months in dental practice and gives advice on overcoming the challenges both in performing the dentistry and dealing with your patients.

General Dental Practice is an area of work that demands a complex set of skills and knowledge. Vocational Training (VT) in Scotland or Foundation Training (FT) in England and Wales is the established means of developing these skills in newly qualified dentists.

Sami Stagnell explains his experiences working in his first practice.