Legal Aspects of General Dental

Practice

Multiple choice questions

This continuing Professional Development (CPD) Programme is aimed at readers of the

book Legal Aspects of General Dental Practice who are required to show evidence of
CPD hours spent.

General Dental Council regulations now require all registered UK dental professionals to
undertake CPD and to provide evidence of verifiable CPD. The programme consists of 20
questions each with four possible answers, only one of which is correct in the context of
this programme. In line with forthcoming British Dental Association and General Dental
Council initiatives, a 50% pass rate on all CPDs multiple choice questions will now be
required before a certificate will be issued. Practitioners from whom appropriately
completed forms are received will receive a certificate for 3 hours of verifiable CPD
together with a set of answers to the questions.

Aims and outcomes

In accordance with the General Dental Council’s guidance on providing verifiable CPD for
dentists

The aim of the Legal Aspects of General Dental Practice Continuing Professional
Development Programme is to provide the opportunity for dentists and dental care
professionals to learn about key legal and ethical issues in the dental care setting in
relation to their team members and to their patients.

The anticipated outcomes are that dentists and dental care professionals will be better
informed about key legal and ethical issues and that they might apply their learning to
their practices and the care of their patients.

Please use the space on the answer sheet to provide any feedback that you would like us to
consider.

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 Legal Aspects of General Dental Practice - CPD Questions
20 questions – 3 hours of verifiable CPD

Q1: Which of the following bodies can refer a General Dental Council decision that they
think too lenient to the High Court or the Court of Session (Scotland)?

a. The National Clinical Assessment Authority (NCAA)

b. The Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE)
c. The Council for the Regulation of Health Care Professionals (CRHP)
d. The Business Services Authority (BSA)

Q2: One of the following sanctions is not within the power of the General Dental Council,
which is it?

a. Erasure from the Dentists Register

b. Suspension of a registrant’s registration for a maximum of 12 months
c. Imposition of a suspended sentence of less than six months
d. Reprimand a registrant

Q3: Which of the following Act(s) define(s) how long records should be kept?

a. Consumer Protection Act 1987

b. Limitations Acts
c. Data Protection Act 1998
d. All of the above

Q4: What is the penalty for altering, erasing or defacing documents requested under the Data
Protection Act?

a. A fine of up to £5,000
b. A custodial sentence
c. It is not a punishable offence
d. A and B

Q5: Before a patient can give valid consent to dental treatment they must be deemed in law
to:
a. Be over 21 years of age
b. Have sufficient financial wherewithal to pay for the treatment
c. Have been coerced to accept treatment
d. Possess the required capacity

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Q6: In the case of a teacher bringing a child with trauma for treatment, in which the parents
cannot be contacted, the dentist should:

a. Provide treatment only if the child gives written consent

b. Provide treatment in the child’s best interest
c. Ask the teacher to sign a consent form declaring parental responsibility
d. Refuse to treat the child until the parents arrive

Q7: Which of the following classes of information has not traditionally been covered by the
laws of confidences?

a. Artistic and literary confidences

b. Personal information confided in a professional relationship of trust
c. Economic data pertaining to taxable income
d. Trade secrets

Q8: In relation to patient’s dental records:

a. The police have an inherent right of access to confidential dental records

b. The patient’s consent need not be sought before disclosing documents to the
GDC
c. Coroners may access records in investigating the disappearance of a person
d. Disclosure of confidential information may, on occasion, be made without the
patient’s consent if it is in the public interest

Q9: Which of the following does not have to be present and proved in order for a patient to
be successful in a claim of negligence against a dentist?

a. That a duty of care is owed by the dentist to the patient

b. There was a breach of duty of care in failing to reach the standard of care
expected
c. The duty of care was delegated to another team member
d. The patient suffered harm/loses as a result (causation) and that harm was
foreseeable

Q10: If a patient with a failed implant has not followed post-operative instructions or has
otherwise jeopardised the success of the treatment by their own actions or inactions, this
is termed:

a. Contributory negligence
b. A circumstance of special damages
c. A chain of causation
d. A Gillick case

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Q11: An expert witness is:

a. A lawyer who has had the same treatment as is being disputed

b. A person, such as a dental nurse, who saw what happened
c. A dentist who can claim a greater level of expertise in a particular field
d. A dentist who previously treated the patient for a similar complaint

Q12: A condition and prognosis report:

a. Should contain references to legal causation

b. Must never be disclosed as part of the Particulars of Claim
c. Details only the condition of the teeth at the time of examination
d. Should deal with issues of factual causation

Q13: Which of the following is not a committee in the GDC’s performance procedures
process?

a. Interim Orders Committee

b. Professional Conduct Committee
c. Malpractice Summary Committee
d. Performance Review Committee

Q14: To which radiographic image quality standard is the following definition applied; ‘No
errors in patient preparation, exposure, positioning, processing or film handling’?

a. That which a competent practitioner would achieve

b. Excellent
c. Average
d. Occasionally met by chance

Q15: The Data Protection Act 1998:

a. Is the safeguard a practice has against fraudulent use of its records

b. Gives every living person the right to apply for access to personal health
records
c. Only applies to non-NHS patients
d. Requires that requests made under its terms are logged within 45 days

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Q16: In respect of explaining costs, a dentist should always:

a. Make clear the nature of the contract and whether the treatment is NHS or
private
b. Communicate the charge for initial consultation
c. Provide a written treatment plan and estimate where the treatment is likely to
be extensive
d. All of the above

Q17: Questions asked for the purpose of clarifying an expert’s report should be:

a. Requested by telephone so that no record is kept

b. Always sent to the expert, the defendant’s solicitor and the GDC
c. Made in writing to the expert not later than 28 after receipt of the report
d. Asked only in a court of law or in the presence of the attendant solicitor
(attorney at law in Scotland)

Q18: Scotland has:

a. Its own laws pertaining to confidentiality, which are significantly different to

those in England and Wales
b. Its own legislation addressing the capacity of children and young people to
consent to medical treatment
c. A and B
d. Neither A or B

Q19: Under NHS Terms of Service Requirements, a dentist must:

a. Have a practice-based complaints procedure

b. Set up a computerised medical history form linked to the NHS database
c. Provide every patient with a written procedure on confidentiality
d. Spend at least a day a year attending a local resolution stage of conciliation to
provide expert advice

Q20: In relation to ‘incompetent’ adults:

a. This group includes those who are unable to pay for their treatment in full
b. The wishes of the family with regard to treatment are binding on the dentist
c. A dentist is unable to judge what is in their best interests
d. No one has the power to consent to treatment on their behalf

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 Answer sheet Legal Aspects of General Dental Practice
Continuing Professional Development Programme

Please PRINT your details below. *Essential information. Certificates cannot be issued
without all this information being complete

GDC Registration Number*…………………………………….. Title*…………………….…

First Name*………………………………. Last Name*………………………..………………

Address*…………………………………………………………………………………………

………………………………………………………Postcode*………………………………..

Tel……………………………………Email…………………………………………………….

TICK (√) the answer to each question for each article.

Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 Q5 Q6 Q7 Q8 Q9 Q10
a a a a a a a a a a
b b b b b b b b b b
c c c c c c c c c c
d d d d d d d d d d

Q11 Q12 Q13 Q14 Q15 Q16 Q17 Q18 Q19 Q20
a a a a a a a a a a
b b b b b b b b b b
c c c c c c c c c c
d d d d d d d d d d

Please send your answers to:

CPD Programmes, Stephen Hancocks Limited, Little Steine, Hill Farm Lane, Duns Tew
Oxfordshire OX25 6JH Full contact details available at www.shancocksltd.com

Feedback : We wish to monitor the quality and value to readers of the CPD Programme so as
to be able to continually improve it. Please use this space to provide any feedback that you
would like us to consider.

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Only original forms accepted. No photocopies please.

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