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Withdrawing from a patient's treatment

BDJ In Practice volume 37, page 24 (2024)Cite this article

Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes and just occasionally, with patients, you may wish to say goodbye before they expect it. Even though you present a tolerant smiling disposition in the surgery there can still be occasions when one of your patients becomes a major challenge to deal with. Of course, this doesn't happen very often because your professional training will have taught you how to deal with the majority of difficulties. But there are limits, and once in a while the clinician could feel they can do no more in this particular situation other than to ask the patient to find another dentist.

There is never a good time to realise that you cannot continue to treat the patient who is currently sat in the dental chair. Suffice it to say that the long holiday period between Christmas and the New Year can be fraught with emotion for some people and is probably best avoided as the moment to terminate a professional relationship.

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Reference

  1. General Dental Council. Standards for the Dental Team. Available online at: www.gdc-uk.org/standards-guidance/standards-and-guidance/standards-for-the-dental-team (accessed November 2023).

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  1. BDA Indemnity, London, United Kingdom

    David Croser

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  1. David Croser
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Correspondence to David Croser.

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Croser, D. Withdrawing from a patient's treatment. BDJ In Pract 37, 24 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41404-023-2256-7

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