We tend to associate orthodontic treatment with modern life and recent cosmetic developments. However, what a lot of us don’t realise is that the concept and attempts of aligning teeth goes as far back as 600 B.C, that we know of at least. Several discoveries have been made where Egyptian mummies have actually been found with crude metal bands wrapped around individual teeth, indicating that the knowledge of using pressure to move teeth over a period of time, was present in the ancient times too.

For those of you who aren’t entirely familiar with orthodontics, the curiosity of how it all works and what orthodontic nursing actually involves may have crossed your mind at some point in your dental nursing career. You may find the prospect of assisting with another root canal treatment unbearably disheartening, you may want to expand your knowledge or simply fancy the idea of a slight diversion into a specialist field of dentistry.

The UK’s largest oral health campaign ‘National Smile Month’ run by the British Dental Health Foundation has joined forces with Bridge to aid (B2A) to educate the people of Tanzania on the importance of oral health. Bridge to aid is a dental and development charity working towards a world free from dental pain.

Delivering bad news.....

I had quite a stressful day today. We had two new patients booked in this afternoon, both female, aged 34 and 55. Both had recently had examinations and already had long-term NHS Dentists.

The younger patient, let’s call her Patient A, was concerned about her gums and felt she had some tooth movement, particularly around her front teeth.

Following the news of a registered Nurse being struck off the dental register for multiple convictions, it is a good idea to re-evaluate the meaning of 'professionalism' and what it is and isn't we should be doing not only in our working life, but also our personal life. Committing ourselves to our profession involves a standard of behaviour and if we do not follow the standards and guidelines set by the General Dental Council, we will not only lose our job, we will also lose our place on the dental register making it impossible for us to work as Dental Nurses again.