This month I have chosen the topic of mental health to discuss with you all. The term ‘mental health’ is used frequently in the media and in different contexts within our daily conversations.

When qualifying as a dental nurse, you passed your exams with flying colours and gained a merit. You are currently studying dental sedation and have recently qualified as a dental radiographer, passing the radiography exam with a grade of outstanding (an amazing achievement). To help inspire and encourage dental nurses who are interested in progressing their careers by taking post-registration qualifications, we would love to know more about you and your career development. We would also like to hear your top tips for studying that helped you to achieve such amazing results.

In my last blog post, I wrote about our ‘National Smile Month’ projects that we had to present at the end of June. I’m glad to say that it all went brilliantly! We gave out tons of freebies (which everyone loved), spoke to a wide variety of people, and got our message across about hidden sugars and the Stephan Curve. You’ll also be pleased to hear … I PASSED MY GATEWAY! I can now take impressions and place fissure sealants, so I have begun to do this on patients in practice. Read below for more information on the Stephan Curve and how I’ve been finding impression-taking and fissure sealants. 

The British Dental Association (BDA) published a report in June 2018 to announce that the rules and regulations governing the use of dental amalgam are changing. Amalgam is being phased out in specific patient groups to help reduce the amount of mercury-containing products in the environment. This is just a quick summary of the report – a link to the full document is included below. 

My name is Chelsea Foster. I have been a registered dental nurse for nine years, and recently reached the end of my contract in the military after nine years’ service. I currently work in a cosmetic dental practice in Durham city centre as a dental nurse and an oral health educator.