How dental nurses stay out of trouble

Over the past few months, I have been doing a lot of research into patterns of misconduct in the dental profession. This might seem an odd and almost masochistic pursuit for someone who is not a dentist or a dental care professional (DCP) but there are good reasons for it.

Last year I came to the end of my 10 years as a Lay Member and Chair of the Fitness to Practise (FtP) panel of the GDC. Back in 2004 when I was first appointed, I had already been a Lay Member within two disciplinary processes in the world of accountancy and, contrary to expectations, disciplinary cases against accountants did prove to be surprisingly interesting. In the end, it is all about people and the decisions they make. When you enjoy exploring motivation and having the responsibility to be scrupulously fair as much as I do, then this type of work is deeply satisfying. The same proved to be true of the world of dentistry.