My dental nurse story starts from ten years ago when i was 18 years of age, undecided what i wanted to do after studying towards a nursing deploma and decided i wanted to go into work, i can across a trainee job advert for dental nurse recommended by my mum who was also a dental nurse. I went to two interviews and was offered both jobs and took on the one in a busy practice in a town called runcorn, straight away i quickly got the hang off dental nurse role and worked on reception and alongside the practice manager and decided to do my dental nursing qualification, which then wasnt compulsery but i wanted to do it right away. I worked full time and each week i would drive to Liverpool to Aldertraining to do my nursing certificate, been so eager to get passed i fast tracked my course and put my exam forward and got top marks for my portoflio. I then herd about other career options and was particularly interested in becoming a dental hygienist so this was my next step to look into once i had my dental nurse certificate. I made friends with a girl at collage who recommended me for a job in a private practice, which i went for. Working in a private practice was so different to the busy nhs practice and enabled me to see some specialist work. Six months later after i qualified i bought a house in the area of warrington where i searched for work. i can across the dental Academy, a specialist referal practice, i worte to then and got an interview, there were no vancancies but i was told that they really liked me and would get in touch as soon as something came up, two months later i got a call and started training as a specialist dental nurse gaining skills and learning so much more. I worked alongside the perodonist and closely with the hygiene department, because i was interested in becoming a hygienist i attended all the hygienist course and perio course that were available and attended lectures so i got an idea of the dental hygienist role. I then worked with the implantlogist and joined the implant team which was an exciting demanding role, and gave me even more dental nurse skills. The next year i worked with the orthodontist sepcialist learning about bracework and invisible braces , and herd about the role of dental theropist in orthodontics which also interested me into further study. At the dental Academy i also worked with specialists in endodontics, at this point in my career i felt i wanted to do more, i had learned all types of surgical proceedures and felt ready to do some post qualifactions to push my career forward. I asked the practice i worked in if i could do my radiography course but had to wait for other nurses to complete theres for a year so i took a brave decision to take a year out independantly to Australia. I was so nervous but thought it would be a great experience to work out there doing dental nursing practising my skills and seing another part of the world. So i did, i wrote to my boss and explained that i would like to give plently of notice and would loved to come back on my return, he was so supported as were all the team, i got excellent references and by three months i saved and packed my certifcates up and off i went to Australia on my own at the age of 22. I had the most amazing experience of my life it was hard work but has been most rewarding and im so proud of myself for having the coursage to do it on my own. I started in Sydney and signed with an agency and within weeks got work everywhere, once i was on my feet i gained contacts and travellled around the whole of Australia from Sydney to perth, down the east cost and all over western Australia. I worked in so many different types of practices made friends and got so many job offers, along with offers of sponcership to stay in Austrailia permanent. I worked with gerneral dentist, hospitals, private hospitals, special needs, and also worked with high risk patients and got offered the opportunity to work with the indiginous in central Australia, teaching the aborigianal community oral health education, this was a something i decided i wanted to look into once a returned back to the uk and plan another trip out to do some charity work with dental professionals. After working for the year in Autralia i dencided i wanted to come back to the uk and do some more study. I wrote the dental academy where i previously worked and was offered my job back immediately and was delighted. I bought a car with all my tax back earned from working in Australia and started two days after i can home still jet lagged. I got myself a lovely little appatment ten where i am still happy living in and decided to do a post qualifcation. Still having to wait to do the radiography course i asked management in my work place if i could be my oral health certificate but they wernt keen and i thought it would benifit, so i used all of my hollidays and funded the course myself and went to Liverpool university and now i have just completed my course whilst at the same time i took on a second job to fund it and worked for the community as a bank nurse working weekends, along with 4o hrs full time and the dental academy. Partway through my course i was then told i had a place on the radiography course at Manchester university, so i did that also. I wanted to write this story because i have manages to hold a full time job (working saturday also),do two post qualifications,oral health education and radiography and work sat pms and sundays in the community as a bank dental nurse just so i can fund my post qualifactions, and two weeks ago i finished all exams and im so happy ive completed all the work. I would have loved the support from my work place for my oral health education course, as i had to use my hollidays and some funding would have really hepled me, but unfortunately because i work in a private practice there are no benifit when it comes to funding and now its hard work living independantly and having to pay for cpd courses and registration fees,It would be nice to see more support for dental nurse who want to get post qualifcations to move there career forward without the cost,i used my hollidays and now i have to work on call also on a rota, it would be lovely to see a change in pay for us dental nurses who work late, pay for courses, pay for cpd and work weekends and on call also. Now i have gained my post qualifications im looking forward into changing my role again and moving my career forward. I think dental nurses work so hard we need to hear more about support I feel the  dental nurse network site is the future for dental nurses, its great for sharing experiences and getting advice.

Having been a Private Banking Assistant, PA and civil servant I was looking at a change of career. Knowing what I did and didn't like doing I came accross an advert for the NHS academy to train fastrack as a Dental Nurse- 11 months later and I had finished my course and was qualified!

I now work for the NHS as a PDS Dental Nurse and I am on the look out to do as many post qualification courses as I can. With the current NHS issues around budgets this may be difficult, the worry of actually keeping my job in the current climate is testing enough. But I love my work and would also like to become a Dental Nurse Tutor/Assesor and will be on the look out for future opportunities to get into that line of work.

Becoming a Dental Nurse within the last18 months I have entered into the career with the expectations of registration and CPD. I believe this is a very good move for the world of Dental Nurses as it recognises that this is a professional job which requires qualifications (apart from the grandmothering clause at the begining of it all). I ensures that we are continuing to keep upto date with the latest knowledge and practices, including some very important core topics such as infection control, resuss and safeguarding children. Extended duties is yet another exciting thing for Dental Nurses as those who would want to progress further now can do!

All of these things thrust us ladies and gents into a more professional light and also make us responsible for our own actions too. The current dental contracts have made access to Dentistry difficult I feel to certain group of people and I hope that the shake up of the NHS (and the Prof Steel Report) may bring in a different Dental Contract which will see people being able to access dentistry and allow us to provide excellent oral health care and to give oral health care advice to those who need it.

It was 1985 and I left school aged 16 hoping to become a crown and bridge dental technician like my Uncle Stephen. I was from the era where Y.T.S (youth training scheme) were implemented and was delighted to be invited to an interview for the position of trainee dental technician.

Unfortunately my wardrobe lacked the predictable interview garments like an "over the knee" black skirt or straight legged black front pleated trousers and with no money or guidance I resorted to raiding my mothers wardrobe. I picked out a truly shocking outfit....a tight fitting black and red "nightclub" number that I thought would surely make me stand out. I teamed it with fishnets,cheap red stilettos and gothic style make up. Not surprisingly my interviewer, unable to show her horror accelerated my interview and I tottered out of the exit in my 6 inch heels with a feeling of doom.

Although one door closed another one opened and i was invited for an interview for the position of trainee dental nurse. This time I attended wearing my mothers waitress uniform which consisted of a plain black skirt, white blouse and little make up and the rest is history.

I am now 42 years old with 26 years of dental nursing under my belt and I've loved every one of them and i still love fishnets.lol !!!

Hi!

My name is Rebecca, I am 26 and I have been a Dental Nurse for 2 ½ years. I studied on the evening course in my local college in Belfast, every Monday night straight after work, and sat my exam in May 2009 and qualified with the NEBDN National Certificate in Dental Nursing.   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 got 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 of your favourite accessories store, but it all got pretty boring very quickly, to me once you’re in, you’re in, there isn’t much progression and there certainly isn’t much money!  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 and they hired me.  That was the beginning of the best career decision I ever made.

I love my job, it’s never predictable and no day is ever the same.  I really enjoy the cosmetic side of dentistry, I love seeing people leaving the surgery with that new smile that they always wanted after maybe years of being unhappy with the colour or the shape of their teeth.  The fact that we can transform someone’s confidence in themselves in just a couple of visits really makes it worthwhile.  I think it’s amazing that we can place a bridge and suddenly someone’s whole appearance changes.  I love it when the kids come in and are really excited to see the dentist and tell us about their new musical toothbrush and that they use it twice a day, educating them is so important.   Don’t get me wrong, it a stressful job sometimes, from that simple extraction that turns into a surgical because the root has fractured off and you just cant get at it to the patient at the desk demanding to be seen at 4.45pm on a Friday evening! I think sometimes the job is misunderstood by people, (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 to it than meets the eye!

I am now studying for the NEBDN Dental Sedation course which is really interesting and a lot of work but it will be worth it!  I am also taking part in the Alginate Impression Taking course next year which I think is great that nurses are able to do this now.   There are so many courses out there for nurses now that there is always going to be something there to interest you and progress, whether you want to study sedation, radiography, orthodontic nursing… the list is endless for us to progress onwards and upwards.  I personally would love to work in Maxillofacial/Oral Surgery so I will do all the courses I can to get there!

I am really enjoying writing the articles for The Dental Nurse Network, its such a great website and is well needed and was well overdue as there was nothing of its kind out there for us before it came along, it’s such a great opportunity and I hope you enjoy reading them and are of some help!

And always remember… the dentists would fall apart without us nurses!!!

Life Working as a temporary dental nurse.

During my time temping as a dental nurse I have often found myself in situations where there are infection control issues within the dental practice I am sent to for that day.

I write this as I am sure there are a lot of other dental nurses out there too that come across these issues. I have often sought the advice of a former colleague I worked with in a large hospital NHS trust who worked as an Infection Control Nurse and she has been a good source of knowledge, suggesting in situations where I am in a compromised position what I ought to do.

It is often the case in a dental practice that when it comes to the decontamination of instruments prior to sterilisation that I find the practice has an ultrasonic bath but does not use it. In such case there is a discoloured nail brush with worn bristles, hand soap if you are lucky that the dental nurse is expected to use.

Unlabelled bottles with some sort of liquid is also a familiar finding too. I have on one occasion been told " we have an ultrasonic but we do not like to use it". I went to the cupboard found the ultrasonic, plugged it in and put the nusonic solution in the bath and started it up. The dentist looked surprised but did not object.

The BDA advice sheet Infection Control in dentistry A12 do state in their introduction under the title Routine Procedures, "failure to employ adequate methods of cross-infection control would almost certainly render a dentist liable to a charge of serious professional misconduct".

It is a concern to me and others working in a temporary capacity that we are vulnerable and we must eliminate risks to our health and wellbeing at work in order to protect ourselves. Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV are just a few viruses that we are aware of and should we have an accidental needlestick injury from a dirty sharp instrument such as a probe we run the risk of potential infection.

Having previously worked in a large hospital NHS trust I was  fortunate to have Infection Control nurses, Health and Safety employees and a Central Sterilisation Supplies Department  that decontaminate instruments, sterilise and package them with a bar code for us to link up with the patient notes. We must consider that all patients and patients who are immunocompromised must have clean instruments.

Any invasive procedure such as crown lengthening surgery or periodontal treatment may potentially render a patient with a transient bacteremia which can result in mild to severe degrees of fever or transient infection.

Also in large hospital trusts we are fortunate to have an HR department to deal with issues that arise with members of staff, some may also have a Pastoral Care Department with Staff Support Facilitators who are there to look after our psychological wellbeing. Unfortunately for temporary dental nurses there is no such department for us to go to when we are on the receiving end of a dentist who upsets us.

You are lucky if the agency you work for has concerns for your wellbeing and calls to ask you if you are fine. There are laws to protect us:-

The Health and Safety at Work ACT 1974

The Health and Safety at Work Regulations 1992

Employment Rights Act 1996

Protection from Harassment Act 1997

Sex Discrimination Act 1975

Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000

Disability Discrimination Act 1995

Trade Union and Labour Relations Act 1992.

Public Interest and Disclosure Act 1998

We must inform ourselves and I carry the BDA A12 advice sheet on Infection Control in Dentistry to quote and show dentists if I have to.

As my colleague would say "dentists can't really go against best practice guidance". Even guidance becomes law if someone is injured.

Julie Rolink RDN

During my time temping as a dental nurse I have often found myself in situations where there are infection control issues within the dental practice I am sent to for that day.

I write this as I am sure there are a lot of other dental nurses out there too that come across these issues. I have often sought the advice of a former colleague I worked with in a large hospital NHS trust who worked as an Infection Control Nurse and she has been a good source of knowledge, suggesting in situations where I am in a compromised position what I ought to do.

THE ROAD TO BECOMING A QUALIFIED REGISTERED DENTAL NURSE

What makes a good dental nurse? How does one survive an industry that’s highly competitive and extremely wide? Where a little mistake could cause a major catastrophe?

Am sure most dental nurses will agree with me that being a dental nurse is not an easy job. Am going to write a bit about how I become a nurse, my experiences and challenges I have faced since I joined this industry.

I remember the day I arrived in the UK to embark on my studies. Coming from a country (Zambia) with less than 50 private dental practices. Where the Dentistry doesn’t receive much funding from the government either. Most dental departments and clinics are in the big hospitals and majority of dental studies are done abroad.

I initially wanted to go straight into dental school but discovered that its is very hard to get into a Dental school. So with advice from the Careers Advisor I enrolled on a course in dental nursing with the hope of getting into mainstream dentistry later on.

I applied for the course at London training college in waterloo and embarked on my journey of becoming a qualified and registered dental nurse in 2008, though I must mention that I did a course in health and social care before enrolling as a pre NVQ course.

Once I was on the course the hard part was finding a placement as the college only assisted with letters to give to future employers. I remember waking up very early every morning and dropping off my CV at different practices. And spending hours on the internet. After three months I got a job in a private family practice in Wimbledon working as a trainee dental nurse and receptionist, I was really excited about my new job and very proud of myself. Unfortunately I lost this job just after a month. Reason given for my dismissal was that I lacked good spoken English. I remember going home and sobbing so much in my boyfriend’s arms and he assured me that my English was good and encouraged me to keep looking for a job and so the search continued.

After two weeks my tutor and mentor at college Ann Marie told me about a practice in Harlesden in North West London that was always looking for trainee dental nurses. I gave them a call and was called for an interview and I got offered the job after the interview. If only I had known why they always employed only trainee foreign Dental Nurses, it would have saved me all the grief this job caused me later on. This was a really trying time for me. I remember going home every night and thinking of quitting. I worked for 4months while training without getting paid. The hygiene standards where very bad and nurses treatment from the dentist was horrendous.

While at this working at the surgery I met a very special friend from china Nan jian,who had worked at the practice for 6years.

Nan and I bonded because of this experience, she couldn’t live the practice as the practice had given her a work permit to work and live in the UK. As the weeks passed by we grew closer in our difficult time while working there, I remember one day after work while waiting for the bus my friend Nan told me about all the bad things that had happened to her while working there. We sat there crying and comforting each other for about half an hour, which I must admit might have seemed quite strange for all the other people at the bus stop.

To cut the story short my friend Nan left the practice as she got really sick and too stressed. At one point she was having too many nose bleed and had to do tests for leukemia. She encouraged me to leave as well as soon as I found another job. I made a vow to myself to find myself a good practice and leave as soon as I found one.

My prayers were answered after a month or so after my friend had left and I found a job at the practice where I am currently working.

I can’t say everything is all perfect now and am satisfied with the qualifications I have at the moment. But at the same time am not going to let a few bad experiences put me of continuing to work in dentistry. That’s why I decided to do a course in primary care management as this course will give wider options in my career. I know and believe a dental nursing qualification a ladder for anyone wishing to progress in any medical field.