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.

You have recently qualified as an orthodontic therapist – big congratulations. To inspire and encourage dental nurses who are interested in training to become orthodontic therapists or who are looking into different areas of career progression, we would love to know more about you, your career development and the courses and training you have completed to help you get where you are today.

Throughout my life, I have had an interest in science, an ever-growing interest in healthcare, and an overwhelming urge to help others. At the tender age of 18, I reached that inevitable time of deciding what I wanted to do with my life. After months of not knowing which career to take and multiple weekends taken up by research and talking with family members (some of whom work in healthcare), I decided that dental nursing was the route for me. Now that I had my mind made up, it was time to search hard for the job that I wanted.

I started my undergraduate degree in Immunology and Toxicology in 2002, not really knowing which direction my career was going to take, but knowing that it was going to be in science. I have my high school Chemistry teacher to thank for that; his love for science was infectious, and he made it seem fun.  

I’ve just completed Year One Term One as a student dental hygienist at the University of Essex. What a crazy term it has been – moving in, making new friends, working at a new practice, attending lectures, writing essays, and taking gateway tests, practical examinations and written examinations. Life as a trainee dental hygienist has just begun.