Confrontation and complaints from patients top early career dentist worries

  Posted by: Dental Design      17th August 2022

A quarter (25%) of young dentists in the UK say they worry most about receiving complaints from patients following treatment, and 17% worry most about confrontation and disagreements during treatment, according to a Dental Protection survey.

In the snapshot survey of dentists who qualified in the last five years, more than two in five (42%) also say they worry most about making mistakes.

The top 10 worries for early career dentists are:

1. Making a mistake – 42%
2. Complaints directly from patients after treatment – 25%
3. Confrontation or disagreements with patients during treatment – 17%
4. The impact of Covid-19 on financial security – 17%
5. The impact of Covid-19 on their mental wellbeing – 16%
6. Their career choice – 16%
7. A clinical negligence claim being brought against them – 14%
8. A GDC investigation into their practise – 13%
9. Negative media coverage or reputational damage following a case or claim – 9%
10. Disagreements with colleagues – 8%

George Wright, Deputy Dental Director at Dental Protection commented:

“The chief concern for early career dentists is a fear of making mistakes and this is understandable. This has and always will be at the top of the list of worries as nobody wants to feel responsible for causing harm to a patient. It is also not surprising to see patient complaints and confrontation so high on the list. The restrictions affecting access to routine dental care during the pandemic, and the resulting treatment backlog, are still impacting some dental professionals and there are of course a number of other factors affecting access to care including lack of NHS funding and practices being disincentivised from taking on new high needs patients.

“Handling complaints after treatment or disagreements during treatment can be extremely challenging for any dental professional, however we understand that for those starting out in dentistry the ongoing ‘firefighting’ reality may be particularly stressful.

“We support members in handling complaints and difficult interactions with patients’ day in day out and know it is unpleasant. Now more than ever, early career dentists need to be confident in handling situations effectively to help avoid them escalating. This makes skills like expectation management, good communication, detailed record-keeping and establishing clear consent critical.

“Dental Protection is always here to offer support and advice. Members are encouraged to contact us as soon as a patient complaint is received so we can offer help and advice from the outset.

“I would also encourage young dentists experiencing work-related stress due to a complaint or difficult interaction, to make use of our counselling service which is a member benefit. This service is delivered by ICAS’ independent, qualified counsellors who are available 24/7.”