The 2023 Dental Law and Ethics Forum (DLEF) essay prize is now open for entries from young dental care professionals who want to make a mark in the dento-legal field. Final year students as well as any GDC registrant who has been qualified for up to five years are eligible to enter one of three categories.

The essay topics are as follows:

  1. 1.

    For final year students: 'Is it possible to obtain consent from a patient who has dementia?' This essay can be up to 800 words long

  2. 2.

    For first year registrants: 'Is it ever ethical to do something that is illegal?' This essay can be up to 1000 words

  3. 3.

    For registrants who have been qualified for between two and five years 'What are the dento-legal issues to consider if a 17-year-old patient wants limited treatment orthodontics followed by composite bonding?' This essay can be up to 1500 words long.

The deadline for all the essays is 30 July, 2023, and the prize for the best essay in each category is £250 and the opportunity to speak at the December meeting of the forum. The DLEF is a group of influential people in the dental world who meet several times a year for talks given by experts in the world of dento-legal and medical ethics. Established 24 years ago, the forum provides valuable opportunities for debate and networking.

For the inaugural competition in 2022, there were two categories, one for first year registrants and the other for those qualified for between two and five years. Following the success of last year's competition, the DLEF has added an extra prize to include final year students. The winners last year were Rachel Manson, a first-year dentist registrant and Sophie Rimmer, a newly qualified dentist. They both presented to the DLEF's December meeting when they were awarded their prizes.

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Chris Morris, current President of the DLEF and dually qualified as a dentist and a lawyer, said; 'We had a very impressive set of entries last year. The 2023 essay topics are designed to encourage reflection on challenging contemporary topics which revolve around the theme of consent. They explore the kind of issues that the indemnity organisations deal with on a regular basis and will appeal to dental professionals at various stages of their career who are hoping to develop a portfolio career or who have an interest in the dento-legal world.'

Full details of the prizes and how to apply can be found at: www.dlef.org.uk/the-dlef-essay-prize-2023/.