A new digital tool that promises to make the process of gaining valid consent easier, more efficient, and less stressful has launched to the profession.
Dentistry Consent – the latest practice service tool from FMC, publisher of Dentistry – offers practices and clinicians a fresh way to manage dental consent.
The platform automates patient follow-up after the initial consultation, sending out documentation and explainer videos that help patients review the treatment in their own time.
After watching, patients complete a short series of questions to confirm their understanding of the key risks and benefits. Each step is recorded, forming a secure digital audit trail.
While the system is designed to build trust and help patients feel more confident in their treatment, it also makes clinicians’ record keeping more robust, providing better medicolegal protection in case of complaints or litigation involving consent.
Reinforcing clinical discussions
Biju Krishnan, clinical director at FMC, said: ‘Gaining valid consent is fundamental to providing a high standard of dental care.
‘Many clinicians find the process challenging and stressful and it’s not always easy to be sure patients have understood the risks and benefits of different treatment options.
‘Dentistry Consent changes that: it’s built around helping them to truly understand their treatment options. It’s a pressure-free way to reinforce the clinical discussions that already happen in practice, meaning patients and practices can feel more confident about the whole process.
‘Equally importantly it’s also built around protecting clinicians in the event of litigation or a complaint that ends up at the GDC.
‘Litigation is a sad reality of modern dental practice that in most cases, helps nobody but the lawyers. It’s expensive, unbelievably stressful, and in the very worst cases, stops patients accessing the options that might help them the most.
‘We want to revolutionise dental consent – it’s time to make the process work better for everyone.’
Dentistry Consent – available now
Other features of Dentistry Consent include the facility to personalise consent documentation to each user’s personal preferences. Clinicians working across different sites retain access to their own documentation, making it seamless to move between different practices.
The system also integrates with selected practice management systems, such as Dentally, allowing users to send and track consents directly from your existing workflow.
New users can trial Dentistry Consent for just one pound per month for the first three months: find out more at www.dentistry.co.uk/consent.
