Are you confident in spotting a child at risk of neglect?

Do you know what to do if you witness abuse in your practice?

How can you raise concerns safely while protecting both the child and your team?

This episode with Dr. Christine Park provides tangible actions, practical scripts, and clear guidance for managing challenging scenarios—like seeing an adult hit a child in the waiting room or recognizing neglect in the dental chair. These are situations dental school rarely prepares us for.

Every practice needs clear protocols for safeguarding. This episode acts as a North Star, helping you stay compliant while ethically doing the right thing. If you treat children, you must listen to this episode and share it with every colleague who treats children.

Protrusive Dental Pearl: Find the phone number of your local child safeguarding board / social services. Verify it, then display it where you and your team can quickly access it.

Need to Read it? Check out the Full Episode Transcript below!

Key Takeaways

Highlights of this episode:

00:00 Teaser

00:59 Intro

02:40 Pearl – Child Protection Hotline

05:23 Dr. Christine Park’s Background and Expertise

08:37 The Role of Dentists in Safeguarding Children

11:19 Practical Scenarios and Guidelines for Safeguarding

15:35 Recognizing Silent Cases of Neglect

17:29 Team Collaboration and Support in Safeguarding

21:58 Guidelines and Policies for Effective Safeguarding

22:03 Midroll

25:24 Guidelines and Policies for Effective Safeguarding

28:32 Handling a Tough Safeguarding Scenario

32:18 Dealing with Poor Oral Hygiene and Neglect

39:12 Managing Parental Reactions and Consent

43:08 The Importance of Safeguarding in Dentistry

45:34 Further Guidance and Resources

46:10 Outro

📢 Safeguard your young patients with confidence!

Catch Dr. Christine Park at the Scottish Dental Show in June or via her NES webinars.

Check out the BSPD guidelines on dental neglect —an essential resource for any dentist treating children

✉️ Get in Touch with Dr. Christine:

If you loved this episode, don’t miss How to Manage Children in Dental Pain – Paediatric Emergencies – PDP159

#PDPMainEpisodes #Communication #CareerDevelopment

This episode is eligible for 0.75 CE credit via the quiz on Protrusive Guidance. 

This episode meets GDC Outcomes A and D.

AGD Subject Code: 430 PEDIATRIC DENTISTRY (Identification and reporting of child abuse)

Aim: To equip dental professionals with practical knowledge and skills to recognize, respond to, and appropriately escalate safeguarding concerns involving children in dental practice.

Dentists will be able to –