The educational website Child protection and the dental team has been relaunched following a full update and makeover. The programme is supported by COPDEND (the Committee of Postgraduate Dental Deans and Directors).

Jenny Harris, Consultant in Community Paediatric Dentistry in Sheffield, who has led the Department of Health-funded project since its inception, said: 'When this [resource] was first published we knew that dental teams had a bit of catching up to do, but it is admirable how our profession has risen to the challenge'.

An evaluation of the resource published in the BDJ (2011; 210: 75–79) showed a remarkably high proportion of dentists acknowledged its direct impact on improving their knowledge, confidence and readiness with respect to safeguarding children. Since then many dental practices have made further improvements when preparing for CQC registration.

Updates to the new website include greater emphasis on early intervention rather than waiting for a crisis to develop. The impact of wider family issues on children also receives more attention. Guidance on dental neglect has been revised. Dental teams are prompted to find out about their own local arrangements for referring low level concerns.

A downloadable list highlighting the 2013 updates is provided for users who still prefer to use the 2009 handbook version of this educational resource.

www.cpdt.org.uk