For dental nurses, completing further training in dental radiography can be a stepping stone to acquiring more responsibility within your dental team, and to extending your scope of practice. Whether you study the NEBDN Certificate in Dental Radiography or the BDA's own qualification in Dental Radiography, you will learn how to use X-rays safely and how to take common dental radiographs unsupervised.

Credit: ©narvikk/E+/Getty Images Plus

Even if you aren't planning on further study, all registered dental care professionals (DCPs) must undertake at least five hours of CPD in radiography and radiation protection in every CPD cycle (except for dental technicians, who can do CPD in materials and equipment instead). Therefore we are pleased to include an article focused on the core CPD topic of dental radiography this February in BDJ Team - our most commonly requested CPD topic!

This issue also features an original article on handling dental complaints - another GDC-recommended topic - by new contributor Priya Sharma. Make sure that you read this article carefully and include it in your general (non-verifiable) CPD.

Back in 2013 the news that the rules on direct access to patients were changing was music to the ears of many dental hygienists and dental therapists. Although we featured an interview with one dental hygienist who has used this change greatly to her advantage (Dental hygienist trailblazer, http://www.nature.com/articles/bdjteam2016143), for many others, there are still too many barriers in place. Read Fiona Sandom's views on whether regulation is hampering direct access, this month in BDJ Team. Fiona makes reference to a BDJ study on the acceptability to patients of using DCPs as front-line clinicians, which we also include here for the benefit of BDJ Team readers.

If you've ever wondered what conditions are like for dental professionals like you in other countries, read our interview with Savannah, a dental assistant based in sunny Sydney. If you'd like to share your own story with BDJ Team readers, I'd be delighted to hear from you.