1. Diagnosis before dentistry

This course

1 hour of verifiable CPD. Foundation and PLVE dentist set. No lock between modules. GDC Development Outcomes A, C and D. Related: Clinical Record Keeping, Legal and Ethical, Periodontal Disease.

Suggested study time

• Diagnose first — 18 min
• Options and consent — 20 min
• Staging and knowing when to stop — 17 min
• Knowledge check — 5 min

A plan is not a shopping list

Crowns on every posterior because the principal “likes them” is not a plan. Neither is extracting everything painful without a periodontal diagnosis. You need a reason for each item that would still make sense if the notes were read in a complaint file.

Start with the problems, not the products

Pain, infection, caries, periodontal disease, occlusal issues, missing teeth, and the patient’s aims. Medical history and medicines change what is safe. Radiographs only when justified (IR(ME)R). If you cannot name the diagnosis, you are not ready to cut.

Prognosis is allowed to be ugly

A grade III mobile molar with furcation and an apical area may not be a “save at all costs” tooth in general practice. Saying so clearly, with options, is kinder than a heroic root canal you cannot restore.

The setting matters

NHS primary care, private, mixed, and Foundation rules are not the same menu. Do not promise a complex rehabilitation you cannot provide on this contract, in this diary, with this skill. Offer what you can do well, or refer.