Sebastian Evans

After years of lobbying to become recognised by the GDC (General Dental Council) as the professionals we are, there was great excitement when, in 2008, we finally achieved ‘registered’ status. Recognition and respect for our training, experience, knowledge and loyalty to the profession had finally arrived…or had it? The GDC has ‘dumped’ us into the…

The enhanced opportunities available through offering private dental care to patients often encourages practitioners to move away from NHS dentistry. Indeed the switch to private provision from an NHS contract may seem like a sure-fire way of increasing your income, but as with any major decision, there are advantages and disadvantages that must be weighed…

More than 4,000 responses have been received so far and analysis of those, and of other informal responses and comments, is currently underway. The General Dental Council (GDC) has been engaging with the profession on the issue of the annual retention fee (ARF) since April this year when it launched an initial consultation on the…

Out in Tanzania, Mark Topley couldn’t be more grateful to supporters who helped to keep this year’s projects on track. He says: ‘We are hugely encouraged by the response we had from the urgent appeal. As many readers will know, at the end of December 2013 we realised the combined effects of a grant that…

A rising number of adult and child patients see an NHS dentist, but only the north of England shows an increase in the percentage of children seen.

According to a study published in the British Dental Journal, only 35% of dental practices have a working practice website (Nichols and Hassall, 2011). Though this figure was reported in 2011, it would seem clear that there are still not enough dental practices taking advantage of the internet as an effective marketing tool. This seems…

Mick Armstrong, chair of the British Dental Association’s Principal Executive Committee, said: 'The GDC (General Dental Council) has decided to stand by its flawed consultation. 'We are disappointed but not surprised by the regulator’s arguments. 'We do not accept they have answered the questions we posed, and we will be exploring our options with our…

The British Dental Association (BDA) wrote to the General Dental Council (GDC) on the 24 July 2014, threatening to bring a judicial review and arguing that the current consultation should be suspended. In a response to this letter, today the GDC explains in detail that the consultation is based on a clear policy and that…

To date the team at Elleven has raised a total of £3,865. The team included clinicians, nurses and reception staff and even had a plus one with Sameer and Shivani Patel’s (Elleven’s owners) four-year-old daughter taking part. Each year, Elleven chooses a charity to work with and sets out to either raise money or use…

The design capabilities of today’s digital software means dentists are now able to meet the functional needs and aesthetic desires of patients in a single visit, using technology such as chairside economical restoration of esthetic ceramics (CEREC). Although CEREC technology has been available for more than 25 years, it is in the last decade, with…

In its annual report for 2013, the Medical Defence Union, the parent company of the Dental Defence Union (DDU), revealed the number of claims against its dental members rose by almost 10% during the year. Legal changes affecting the amount claimants' solicitors could expect to be paid were introduced on 1 April 2013. Rupert Hoppenbrouwers,…

The founder and principal dentist of the Stephen Dental Practice in London, Neil Stephen, recently flew out to St Lucia to continue his bid to help educate some of the island’s school communities on how to avoid dental decay. Having been visiting St Lucia for nearly 20 years with his wife, a qualified dental assistant,…