Becoming a Dental Nurse was the best decision I ever made, and believe me I have had my fair share of jobs. Walk around your local shopping centre and at least 50% of the stores there have employed me. If you’re the same as me I am guessing that you get pretty bored very quickly in retail. I have been everything from a Christmas temp to Santa’s elf, to nursing home kitchen assistant to travel sales to assistant manager or your favourite accessories store and nothing really panned out, to me once you’re in, you’re in, there isn’t much progression and there certainly isn’t much money.
My mum is a Dental Nurse, so it has always been around me so to speak, but I never really thought of it as a career for me, I wanted to teach secondary school Business Studies (so very glad I didn’t go down that route, I am 5ft 1in and the kids are too terrifying now!). I came to Dental Nursing after working as a supervisor in a supermarket, which I absolutely detested and after a really bad day I knew something had to be done. At the same time, a girl I knew who was a Dental Nurse knew of a surgery who needed Maternity Cover, that evening she called to say they were expecting me the next day for an interview…
I didn’t think I stood a chance, I mean there were qualified nurses out there, who would want some random from the local supermarket? But no, they wanted a trainee, they hired me. I kept saying over and over, I have no experience, you do know that?? That was the beginning of the best career decision I ever made. Don’t get me wrong, it a stressful job sometimes, and sometimes misunderstood by the public, (the amount of times I get asked what I do and reply, to get oh so you’re the wee girl who stands there with the sucky thing? Yes, 2 years of training to stand with a sucky thing, that’s all I do!) I don’t think people realise the studying you actually have to put into it, there is more than meets the eye.
If you want to embark on a career in Dental Nursing, then now is the time to do it, especially before college starts back in September!
First off, contact your local colleges to see if they are offering the course. You have to be on an accredited course. I sat the 2008 exam, the course is generally offered full or part time, full time will consist of college time and day release to a practice, bear in mind most colleges will want you to have found a surgery already, if you are having problems though, the tutors generally can help you with where to go. Part time generally is an evening a week for a couple of hours were a Monday – 6pm to 8.30ish, that’s what I did, it’s a lot of information but as long as you put your time in at home too you will be absolutely fine. Bear in mind that you have to be employed due to the fact that the NEBDN have brought out a Record of Experience 2 years ago (my year were the first year) and it must be signed off by a registered dentist.
The NEBDN can also help you with a list of colleges offering the course.
Get out the Yellow pages and look up dental surgeries and literally start at A and end at Z and phone, phone, phone! You have to be working as a trainee dental nurse if you rely on looking in the paper you will only be seeing a small selection of jobs. Girls are always leaving be it for moving on to uni for hygiene courses of going off on maternity. Even if you are only doing temporary cover for a few months, it’s a foot in the door and you are gaining experience no matter how short.
Courses start in September, and the exam is in May of the following year, with the resit in November after that. You must have completed your Record of Experience – its approximately 100+ procedures and surgery set ups but you will get into the swing of it as the general stages of each procedure are the same, same instruments, same mixtures etc, you set up the surgery the same and you clean and disinfect the same so don’t be put off by it. You will also have to complete a case study.
The exam is split into 5 sections:
Section 1 – The Written – Part A
1. 15 Multiple choice questions
2. Labelling a diagram and short questions
3. Short questions
4. Charting
You are recommended to just spend 30 mins on this section.
Section 2 – The Written – Part B
Four questions – there will be a choice of 5, read them, read them again, what jumps out at you might not be the best question for you, don’t be a hero either, answer the questions that seem easiest to you, not the one that you think is the most complicated, detailed on. The questions are marked based on your knowledge of your chosen subject and carry equal marks.
They are looking for key words, so use them ie in a question about a root filling, and don’t say ‘we then rinsed out the tooth with bleach, say ‘we then irrigated the canals with sodium hypochlorite’
The answers don’t necessarily have to be in essay form. They accept note form with headings.
Write down anything that comes into your head, even if you don’t think that it’s worth putting down. I.e. the colour/number correlation on GP points and endo files, it shows your common knowledge.
At the end of the question leave a good bit of space (like a page) and go back at the end, you would surprised what you remember and just write it down, it could be the difference between pass and fail!
They also will accept diagrams, so draw that tooth if you want to!
Give this section 1 hour 30 mins.
Section 3 – The Spotter Test
This will consist of 20 dental items that you will have to identify. You should be given a list on you course of 100 items to learn which you should go over on the course. My tips is get an old catalogue like Dentaquip or Henry Schein and cut out the pictures and make your own in a notebook, works a treat!
Make sure you write down the correct full name of the instrument i.e. it’s ‘Cryer’s Elevator,’ not ‘Cryers’, It’s a size ‘20 Gutta Percha point,’ not a ‘yellow GP’
You get 1 minute per selection of 4 instruments.
Section 4 – The Practical
This will be preparing a mixture, could be for a temporary filling, and could be for cementing a crown. Be prepared to speak through this, they are looking for this. As you measuring it out, say that you are doing that and why, that you are dividing the powder up as to avoid lumps and debris etc and whether you are looking for a luting mix or a thick mix etc. Learn the main ingredients, and practice different mixtures, I was given Zinc Phosphate… we never use it in surgery! Some people get lucky and get alginate. Remember if you make a mess and it hardens say that that its hardened because you did not apply enough liquid/water etc you will still get a good mark as you are aware that you did something wrong! They are looking for competence, not perfection.
They will also bring you to a table of instruments; it’s kind of like a mini spotter but with questions. I.e. The examiner will ask ‘I am extracting an upper left second molar which instrument do I need?’ So you would give him the upper left molars, and explain why – beak to cheek.
If you need clarification, ask, they don’t mind.
Section 5 – The Oral
They will ask you about all general aspects of Dental Nursing. Learn your medical emergencies, they will ask you. They can ask about cross infection, procedures, instruments, anything. Things like why you have to keep the tooth dry when filling with composite. If you don’t understand, or don’t know, just say. I don’t necessarily mean the end, they know you’re nervous, and nerves can send the best nurse in the world into a gibbering wreck!
You are given 13 minutes in total for oral/practical – 5 minutes for practical and the remainder for the oral.
Your results will come July/January depending on when you sat the exam. You have to have completed 2 full time years to fully qualify so if you’re part time you have to work the equivalent. Once passed you have to register with the GDC, failing to do so mean you can be struck off before you even start.
Once qualified there is a world of courses you can do, Sedation (which I am starting in September) Radiography, Oral Health, Special Care, Orthodontics, the list is endless! You can work in a Surgery, in the Community, in Hospitals, there is so much out there and you can get into, its so worth it!
Good Luck and remember – the Dentists would fall apart without us nurses!!!
Rebecca RDN