Thursday, 15 October 2026

Good morning.

This week: a change in employment law that practice owners should probably know before a patient crosses the line, Scotland finally confirms its dental pay uplift, and four endodontic disinfection methods go head-to-head.

Plus, some useful advice for anyone whose Instagram feed is making their clinical ambitions slightly too ambitious.

Let’s get into it.

THE DRILL

From 30 October, employment law across Great Britain gets tougher on workplace harassment.

Employers already have to take reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment.

The new requirement is: all reasonable steps.

And there's another important change.

Employers can be liable when staff are harassed by a third party, such as a customer or client, unless the employer took all reasonable steps to prevent it.

For a dental practice, read: patients.

So this isn't just about having a policy somewhere in the staff handbook.

ACAS's guidance points towards active prevention: assessing risks, having clear reporting routes, training staff and responding properly when something happens.

If a patient repeatedly makes inappropriate comments to a nurse, therapist or receptionist and everyone simply laughs it off, “that's just what he's like” becomes a considerably less comfortable defence after 30 October.

Worth reviewing how your practice would actually respond before you need to find out.

SCO: The Scottish Government has accepted a 3.75% increase on the pay element for NHS GDPs.

It takes effect from 1 December, with payments backdated to 1 April 2026.

One important distinction:

It applies to the pay element, not the entire cost of delivering dentistry.

The BDA had pushed for the uplift to apply to the full remuneration package, including stronger recognition of expenses. That hasn't happened.

The orthodontic prior-approval limit also rises from £600 to £685 from December.

So if someone tells you Scottish NHS dentistry “got 3.75%”, there's a little more to the sentence.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK

Researchers treated 80 necrotic mandibular premolars using four different final disinfection approaches:

A) Conventional needle irrigation

B) Sonic irrigation

C) Passive ultrasonic irrigation

D) KTP laser disinfection

Which produced the lowest postoperative pain overall?

Or was there actually no meaningful winner?

Have a think.

Answer near the bottom. ↓

The GDC published a new learning piece this week about the problems that can catch dentists early in their careers.

The themes won't surprise many experienced clinicians: time pressure.

Wanting to say yes.

Taking on something slightly beyond where your experience currently sits.

And watching everyone else online apparently complete full-mouth rehabilitations before lunch.

The useful message is simple.

A complex case doesn't become appropriate because you're excited to do it.

Pause. Plan properly. Ask for help. Listen when a supervisor raises concerns.

And if something does go wrong, engage with the complaint rather than hoping it disappears.

Clinical confidence grows.

It doesn't need to grow at Instagram speed.

BREAK THE ICE

Try:

“I can tell you what I'd prioritise, but first let me show you the trade-offs between the options so you can decide what fits you.”

You can still give an opinion.

Without accidentally turning your preference into their consent.

THE ANSWER

Patients recorded pain at 6, 24, 48 and 72 hours, and again after seven days.

There was no statistically significant difference in postoperative pain between conventional needle irrigation, sonic activation, passive ultrasonic activation and KTP laser disinfection.

Pain was highest at six hours and then reduced across the groups.

The important limitation: This study measured pain.

It doesn't tell us that the four approaches are equivalent for microbial reduction, healing or long-term endodontic success.

So the takeaway isn't:

“Activation does nothing.”

It's:

“In this small trial, the more sophisticated disinfection methods didn't buy a clear postoperative-pain advantage.”

THE LAST RINSE

A patient can arrive ten minutes early for every six-month examination.

Book them for a 90-minute crown prep?

“Sorry, traffic.”

Dentistry also has its own laws of probability.