Dental indemnity or insurance

All dentists are professionally required by the GDC to ensure that patients are “able to claim any compensation they may be entitled to by making sure you are protected against claims at all times, including past periods of practice.”

Choosing indemnity over insurance means that dentists are protected, no matter how long after an incident a claim is made – and with no hidden extra costs. This flexibility provides dentists with greater peace of mind according to MDDUS head of dental division Aubrey Craig.

“The majority of dentists within the UK will have indemnity,” says Craig. “MDDUS provide occurrence-based discretionary indemnity which means dentists are eligible for assistance for all events that occur while you are a member, regardless of when a claim is made.

“You are provided with the full support of MDDUS even if you are no longer an MDDUS member, have moved abroad, ceased clinical work or retired.

“Insurance products operate in a completely different way. They usually only guarantee protection if you are insured both when the incident occurred and when the claim is made. The crucial importance of this lies in the fact that medical and dental malpractice can be made several months or even years after the events that give rise to the claim.”