General or Specialising as a dental nurse

The problem is that I am confused between PTTLS, CTTLS and DTTLS!
I don't know which one is the legal requirement to be a dental nurse tutor.
Any ideas?

Find out where the Dental nurse courses are being held and them try and see if the tutors can advise you on the next move for the Assessor A1 award. Or contact the BADN they might help you.

I did general dental nursing for one year and moved into ortho for one week! I didn't like it at all, maybe it is too fast for me, maybe I felt like a machine doing things without knowing why am I doing them?
Anyway, I moved back to general dental nursing which I enjoy, did many specialist sessions which I really enjoy and would like to do permanently such as perio, sedation and endo.
Now, I am a tutor dental nurse on saturdays and doing a teaching qualification. I would like to do NVQ assessor course but have no clue where to start.

I too was an NVQ assessor for 3 years from 2004 till 2007 with Bury College. Made redunadant from there and went on to Alder training but I didnt fit in. Was asked to leave after 9 mths. Im also a Dental nurse tutor but havent taught since October 2010 and Im very rusty. I have now gone back into General Denistry in a very nice Private Practice in Preston been there almost 3 years and love it there the people I work with are also brill. Im also resitting my Radiography in Dec. So what ever you decide to do once qualifying as adental nurse do it.

I have done a few post qualification courses which was good for me advancing in my career but yes unfortunately it does cost money.
I went on to be an Assessor which I enjoyed as I wanted to give something back to the profession as I had some really good tutors. That was a enjoyable job, it's hard work and you have to be very focused but it's very rewarding.
Have you ever considered doing that?

In regards to Ortho, I totally agree that you do feel more involved. It's a real shame that in general practice the majority of Dentists hardly let the Nurse do anything.

One thing in Ortho I did enjoy was the 4 handed dentistry,as I nurse you definitely feel more involved in the treatment,I am definitely going to get my dentist doing 4 hand , as my dentist at the moment has instruments laid out on a tray, hmmm I think I will getting him to adopt a new approach

I would love to work in Maxillo Facial one day, I think also if and when the opportunity to do Ortho arises again I would love to give it another shot. I am thinking of doing agency work as well to get a good all round experience of how different surgeries work.I am currently employed full time but I wouldn't mind working Sat doing agency nursing.Although I don't know if I want to do dental nursing for another 40 years?I am 30 years old now and I am gathering i will be working until i am 70 until I claim my pension lol
I would like to do post graduate course in OHI/Radiography but unfortunately that costs money, don't get me wrong I love been a Dental Nurse and I am happy been back in General but I was wondering where I want to go in my dental career,I left General as I had done 6 years and wanted to specialise in either Ortho or Maxillo Facial, now with Ortho not working out this time , I am wondering where I want to go and where in my career lol

Any thoughts or suggestions welcome

Your friend is quite right in what she said. You can always give it a go again at some point.
I had another career change a few years back so I'm no longer doing Ortho and Max Fax, I did it for a long time and felt it was time to move on again.
I really enjoyed Max Fax, it was very interesting plus quite gruesome at times but that was what I loved. I enjoyed the theatre work and seeing the difference that was made to a patient.
I would recommend anyone to give it a try. I was very lucky to work with a fantastic team of people who loved what they did.

I am glad I took the risk and did it definitely as they say you never know until you try.I have done Endo,which I enjoyed and would love to get into Maxillo Facial one day.Chatting to a friend today abt my experience of Ortho she said maybe now wasn't your time, maybe in a few years, I did explain that I enjoyed learning about Ortho but unfortunately I couldn't nurse which I found frustrating and upsetting as I think I am a good nurse.But that is not say maybe one day I will give Ortho a try again.I love been a dental nurse and learning abt the different aspects of dentistry.Are you in Ortho now?How did you find it and Maxillo Facial ?

That's a shame.
I left general dentistry to specialise in Orthodontics and Maxillo Facial Surgery.
I loved it but I would say that specialising is not for everyone.
The main thing was that you had a go at it because you could have spent the rest of your career wondering 'what if'.

Simply I was not able to process what I was doing,I could not get my head around the logics of Orthodontics, where in general I was able to understand why I was doing what I was doing,Ortho i just had a blank,I know as a RGN I went in thinking I would be able to do this but respect to Ortho it is a complete and its own specialise part of dentistry.I could not get my head interested when i was nursing although I found it interesting when I was observing x

Sorry to hear this. What was it that you found that you didnt like?

I have had an interesting couple of weeks.I have been a general dental nurse for just over 6 years and decided to have a change,I applied for a job in Orthodontics as a nurse.I got the job and started,initially I was just observing,I enjoyed it,learning about Orthodontics and working with a new team.Unfortunately when I began to nurse I found Orthodontic nursing didn't suit me,I much preferred general nursing.I would love to hear from anyone who has had a similar experience,maybe coming from specialised dentistry to general or visa versa?I am glad i took the opportunity to work as an orthodontic nurse as I think it is good to try new things .