By Lucy Parr
Many people are not aware of what is involved with being a dental nurse. To many we are the ‘person’ who calls the patient into the surgery, sits next to the dentist, passes stuff and holds the sucker thing at all times attempting to ensure they drown on their own saliva. It is time for this to change!
I believe we should all talk to the patients, not just small talk, but be involved in the education and patient journey. This will help them understand what a Dental Nurses role REALLY is.
I have been a dental nurse for over 11 years and in this time the job has changed a lot. Not only in the job itself, such as the introduction of capsulated amalgam, CEREC crowns and washer disinfectors to name a few but also the many qualifications we can now achieve. The biggest and most important change has to be that we are now recognised as Dental Care Professionals and have to register with the General Dental Council (GDC). The world really has become our oyster.
I left college at 19 and needed a job to earn some money. The first job I was offered was as a dental nurse in a local practice. I went to work on my first day not really knowing what to expect or what the job would involve. For me it was just a stop gap whilst I decided what I really wanted to do with my life, 11 years on I am now a practice manageress working at an exclusive private practice in Hampshire.
I sat and passed my National Certificate in dental nursing in 2003, at this time it was not mandatory to have a recognised qualification, and any one could come into the dental surgery and become a dental nurse. In 2007 the GDC registration was introduced and anyone wanting to work in surgery had to be on a recognised training course. This was great news for the profession as now Dental Nursing is a recognised career, not just a job.
Since passing my exams in 2003, I have gone on to achieve my post qualification certificates in Dental Radiography, Oral Health Education, Dental Nurse Sedation and am currently studying for a Diploma in Care Coordination.
I have chosen to go down the practice manager’s path, but there are many avenues available to take. Many choose to continue as a dental nurse but some retire out onto reception. There is also the option to train as a hygienist/therapist which involves attending a university course. A few dental nurses go on to do teacher training and become dental nurse tutors and some of the slightly mad ones they even go on to train as a dentist!
I can see dental nurses being able to do more and more as time goes on. An example of this is the introduction of courses such as rubber dam placement, impression taking and fluoride application. This really is great news as we will become more that the saliva sucking, sweet smiling, odd job people many patients and even some dentists think we are.
Your career is what you make it, go out there get as many recognised qualifications as you can and make yourself even more of an asset to the practice/hospital/PCT/armed forces than what you already are.
