Len D'Cruz and Raj Rattan; 2022; Stephen Hancocks Ltd; £53.99; pp. 250; ISBN: 978-0956566867

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It is not uncommon to find, when clinicians spend too much time in the company of lawyers, that they begin to take on the tut-tutting, patronising demeanour of their learned friends.

The authors have avoided the temptation for such smuggery, and have produced a welcome and accessible text to assist clinicians in the increasingly challenging world of dental law and ethics. I tried (really) hard to find fault with the chapter on ethical perspectives, as it is my area of teaching, and instead came away with some new understanding and ideas, prompting the reflection there is always something to learn. Some of the content is inevitably condescending, the chapter on record keeping mildly irritating to anyone who prefers common sense over tick-boxing, but that is the world we work in. The chapter on consent is an excellent scholarly achievement which avoids the usual hand-wringing over Montgomery and quotes the reassuring judgement from Spencer v Hillingdon (which itself is from paragraph 81 of the Montgomery judgement) saying that, once patients have been given the correct information, the risk and consequences of their choice becomes their own. The opening chapter mentions 'the unremitting and dehumanising machinery of the General Dental Council's fitness to practise process', referencing Kelleher from this journal1 and going into more detail of the process in a later chapter on complaints. Whilst this makes for uncomfortable, and sobering, reading it is important that clinicians have some understanding of what our colleagues may have been through, or be going through, or what we ourselves may be faced with should we be distracted by simply attending to a patient and forgetting to grade a radiograph, or record the shade of a temporary crown. Here I would have liked an ethical analysis of what the GDC and their procedures should be like (expert, judicious, prompt, proportionate) and how the 2009 change from a supportive governing body to a Stasi-esque regulatory body2 has been so damaging to the profession, and sadly, our patients. It is because of this awkward regulatory and legal working environment that this book is essential reading; every practice should have a copy for reference, and for its practical guidance (how long should we keep patient records for?).

David Obree