In their shoes

Many members of the dental team find some areas of child protection challenging. Both in the UK and internationally, there is a known gap between the numbers of dental professionals who suspect child abuse/neglect and those who actually refer cases.^1-11 This has been reported both for dentists^1,2,4-11 and for dental care professionals (DCPs).^3,4 Previously some barriers have been identified as contributing to this gap, such as lack of knowledge of referral procedures, concerns about impact on the child or practice, and lack of certainty of the diagnosis.^1,2 In this article, we discuss some potential situations that could arise in dental practice and suggest potential ways forward for dental teams to work together to face them.