Qualifying as a Dental Nurse is only potentially the first step in a long and successful career. There are many options for Dental Nurses to take these days and being a Dental Nurse has never been so exciting.
Dental Nursing alone has rapidly evolved with Nurses being able to become more involved in treatments by helping the Dentist with impression-taking for example.
Post-graduate courses for Dental Nurses.
The next step after qualification is to find out more about post-graduate qualifications. These will help you become more experienced and knowledgeable as a Dental Nurse. The courses are provided mainly by the British Dental Association. It is the National Examining Board for Dental Nurses (NEBDN) that awards the qualifications.
Here is a brief description of the courses available:
● NEBDN Certificate in Dental Radiography
This qualification allows the Dental Nurse to take radiographs as advised by the Dentist, unsupervised. The course involves theory work combined with practical experience. Dental Nurses have to take a set number of different types of radiographs and have them assessed by the Dentist. This makes up their Record of Experience along with a couple of case studies. There is a written exam at the end of the course.
- NEBDN Certificate in Oral Health Education.
This qualification allows the Dental Nurse to give Oral Health Education to patients unsupervised. Similarly, the Oral Health course involves online study combined with practical experience. Dental Nurses have to build their Record of Experience by giving oral health advice to a select number of patients. The exam consists of a written paper and an oral examination with an Oral Health Examiner.
● NEBDN Certificate in Dental Sedation Nursing.
This course enables the Dental Nurse to assist as the “second appropriate person” present as well as the Dentist providing the sedation. The course also involves theory and practical work including case studies which need to be recorded in a Record of Experience file. Practical experience can be obtained by visiting a dental practice or hospital that regularly offers sedation if your practice does not- however the sedation course is only really of use to a Dental Nurse who is regularly working in a sedation-based environment. Similarly to the Oral Health Education course, there is a written and oral exam at the end.
● NEBDN Certificate in Orthodontic Nursing.
This qualification allows the Dental Nurse to assist an Orthodontist efficiently. The course has a combination of theory and practical work including case studies which need to be recorded in a Record of Experience file. Similar to the Sedation Nursing course, it is only really of benefit to gain the Orthodontic Nursing qualification if you intend to work as an Orthodontic Nurse. There is a written exam at the end of the course.
● NEBDN Certificate in Special Care Dental Nursing.
This qualification allows the Dental Nurse to assist during the treatment of people whose health and social care needs may require special oral health care provision. The course involves theory work and practical experience under the supervision of a Dentist, which must be logged in a Record of Experience. There is a written exam at the end of the course.
Dental Hygiene/Therapy.
Dental Therapists are licensed Dental Auxiliaries. A dentist must examine the patient and clearly prescribe a course of treatment that the Dental Therapist can carry out.
Dental Therapists, like Hygienists have an important role in promoting oral health to patients and are able to treat adults and children.
Dental Therapists are able to:
- Perform an intra and extra oral assessment.
- Provide hygiene treatment (scale and polish).
- Take radiographs
- Provide Oral Health Education (OHI) and Tooth-brushing Instruction (TBI) to an individual patient or a group.
- Apply fluoride and fissure sealants to adults and children.
- Undertake routine restorations (fillings) to adults and children.
- Remove deciduous teeth under local infiltration analgesia.
There are further training courses that a Dental Therapist can choose to do if they want to provide any of the following:
- Provide ID blocks (Inferior dental nerve injection) under the supervision of a Dentist.
- Pulp therapy on deciduous teeth.
- Replacing crowns and fillings temporarily for emergencies.
- Impression taking.
- Treating patients under sedation with the supervision of a Dentist.
Dental Therapists may treat patients who suffer from anxiety and also patients who are disabled or have learning difficulties.
Orthodontic Therapists are able to assist specialised Orthodontists in carrying out orthodontic treatment and also provide certain aspects of orthodontic treatment themselves, however the treatment must be diagnosed initially by the Orthodontist.
There are further training courses that an Orthodontic Therapist can choose to do if they want to provide any of the following:
Practice Management
To become a Practice Manager there is no specific qualification needed however there are qualifications that can be taken to improve performance and knowledge such as the BTEC Level 5 Professional Diploma in Dental Practice Management. Dental Practices however, would prefer good GSCE grades and ideally A Levels because of the need to deal with invoicing and financial issues. Practice Managers are usually people who have worked in a Dental Practice as a Dental Nurse or Receptionist and feel it would be a natural progression for them to work as a Practice Manager. In smaller practices, the Practice Manager may still work as a Dental Nurse or Receptionist and combine the duties of both roles.
Practice Managers are responsible for the day to day running of the practice and deal with all non-clinical matters. The duties of a Practice Manager potentially include:
- Maintaining the practice on a daily basis and dealing with all paperwork, post, business phone calls etc.
- Dealing with purchases such as office stock and monitoring petty cash.
- Monitoring and organising equipment and maintenance contracts.
- Ensuring that all policies, protocols and procedures are in place and followed.
- Dealing with the banking and accounts/invoices.
- Dealing with practice and patient debt.
- Staff training and discipline.
- Staff motivation and teamwork.
- Recruiting and organizing training for new members of staff.
- Payroll
- Holidays and sick pay.
Tutoring and Assessing.
Becoming a Dental Nurse Assessor is another career path for Dental Nurses. A Dental Nurse Assessor helps candidates achieve their NVQ in Oral Health Care and Dental Nursing. The Assessor observes their work and measures it against the standards set by the City & Guild’s or a similar awarding body. The Assessor is there to judge whether the student is competent and also helps the student through tuition and one on one coaching. It is the job of the Assessor to guide the student through the course and ensure that the student is performing to the best standard in order for them to complete the course successfully.
To become a Dental Nurse Tutor/Assessor, you would need to apply for the City and Guild’s Assessors Award, which is available through many providers. Courses vary in length and can be achieved through either full or part time study. There are also options for online and distance learning available.
Dental Sales Representatives
In a world where Dentistry is huge in sales, it is becoming a more popular choice to join large dental companies as a brand representative. Dental Nurses who feel confident when it comes to sales and enjoy meeting new people may well enjoy this role which is a lot different to working in surgery day in day out. Working as a sales representative offers you the opportunity to travel, meet clients and attend meetings and workshops.
Dental Sales Representatives are usually allocated a particular area of the country for them to cover. Within this area it is their responsibility to visit dental practices, dental laboratories, retailers and wholesalers etc. to promote and show the product range and try to achieve a sale or certainly encourage future trade.
The dental profession is a fairly small community so the Dental Sales representative can get to know potential clients quickly and aim to build lasting business relationships. Networking is absolutely vital in this role and keeping regular contact with clients is really important. It is a high pressured role that involves a lot of dedication. People who enjoy a fast-paced, demanding but also rewarding job would be ideal for working in sales. Pay can vary with working as a Dental Sales Representative but the potential to earn a great income is very high, especially if you take commission into consideration.