Sir, I believe things can be changed about the way in which claims are made against dentists today. Solicitors have had this money-spinning job for a very long time. Sadly, the tendency in the UK today is that patients are encouraged to sue dentists. This is of immense concern and we dentists and the BDA should do something about it. Today, you can find solicitors that advertise in order to encourage people to sue a dentist. I heard someone say 'Great, my solicitor said that I can sue that damn dentist and finally I can buy myself a new car'. Why have indemnity policies that will make solicitors and dental indemnity policy providers richer and the dentist indemnity policy more expensive? Why is there no one in the BDA that argues for a change — when every dentist that I have met says the same thing 'the UK is getting more and more like the USA'?

Why not look at Sweden, with a different kind of compensation for patients. First of all, if a patient is not happy, the case is sent to a local panel (the patient's identity and the dentist's name are withheld) who will agree upon a solution (with little compensation). If the dentist concerned is not in agreement, the local panel will send this to the national panel, where specialists and dentists will take the final decision. This means that two separate groups of dental experts have judged the case, therefore a solicitor would not try to take it to court, since it has already been fully evaluated. If the dentist does not follow the national committee's decision, the dentist will be struck off, ie be prevented from practising or have a very difficult time trying to practise. This differs to the UK in that the dental indemnity in Sweden is in principal controlled by the Swedish Dental Association. This system ensures that the patient will have the correct treatment and that the cost is kept at minimum. In summary, why cannot dentists help dentists; why must the UK be so different, when all dentists would benefit from a different system? Why cannot the GDC or the BDA invent local panels with this function and give the dentists involved CPD points for assessing cases? This would encourage dentists to join panel meetings (another way to gain CPD points). To be honest, I don't believe that this is likely to happen in the UK, since solicitors seem to be closely related to indemnity policy providers. Imagine what would happen if the millions of pounds that are spent on legal costs were invested in postgraduate training and to support the local/national panels. Ask yourself 'why do I pay solicitors in order to correct a dental problem, when it should be addressed and corrected by a dentist?'