Sir, I agree with Lewney1 that it is currently a strange time in dentistry where the younger generations are finding it difficult to secure their dream jobs in general dental practice. When I joined dental school in 2008, job security was almost a guarantee, making one almost exempt from the uncertainty of future employment. Nowadays, with the implementation of national recruitment and only limited dental foundation (DF) training posts, UK graduates are being pushed out by the competition, finding it harder to secure a DF post and subsequent associateships.

I guess after five long years at dental school we expected some remuneration and feel hard done by in the current dental jobs market. For us young dentists, deciding whether to stay in general practice or to specialise can be a tough decision to make. With the contract reform coming along, it seems the general dentist will have to take extra measures, ie postgraduate training, to prove they are capable of carrying out the more complex treatment plans for patients. The days of having just a BDS are diminishing.

However, I do feel it is not all doom and gloom; there are a lot of other professions and jobs with far worse prospects than ours and we need to get out of our bubble and learn to beat the competition to secure that ideal job. We should build our CV by attending courses, undertaking postgraduate training, build a portfolio with high quality clinical photographs, write articles, become a member of the LDC, ask patients to write testimonials and observe local specialists to learn new skills ... the list goes on!

Now is a better time than ever to connect with each other and support one another as a profession and that's why I started www.thedental-network.com. I saw a need for all dental professionals (nurses, dentists, hygienists, specialists and technicians) to come together as one big supporting team by creating a dental directory website. The purpose of this idea was to allow dental professionals to easily seek information about fellow colleagues or dental practices, to open doors and build on a career pathway. I would like to encourage BDJ readers to join the network.