Dental Nurses are integral to an Oral Health Multidisciplinary Team.
NHS England Workforce, Training and Education Dental Directorate aim to support the development of confident and competent dental nurses to enable them to be part of the team that delivers excellent NHS dental Care and positively impacts patients’ health.
Starting your career as a dental nurse
For a trainee dental nurse there is no requirement for specific academic qualifications. To qualify an individual needs to undertake a course that is approved by the General Dental Council (GDC).
There are a number of providers that deliver these courses. In our region, there are opportunities to learn via apprenticeships based at the following academic centres:
Level 3 Dental Nurse Apprenticeship – Buckinghamshire College Group
Level 3 Dental Nurse Diploma – Buckinghamshire College Group
Dental Nurse – Level 3 Apprenticeship – SHCG | South Hampshire College Group
Level 3 Diploma in Dental Nursing – SHCG | South Hampshire College Group
Maintaining your registration as a dental nurse
To ensure knowledge is up to date, dental nurses must achieve 50 hours of verifiable Continuing Professional Development (CPD) within the 5-year-cycle. CPD courses are available across many platforms. The GDC recommend subjects include Medical Emergencies, Infection Control, Radiation Protection, Safeguarding, and Complaints Handling.
NHS England Workforce, Training and Education Dental Directorate provide many of these and other relevant courses. These can be found on the course booking system, Maxcourse which is free to register. NHSE – Thames Valley and Wessex – Home
There is sometimes a cost but there are courses that are free to attend such as the ‘Lunch and Learn’ sessions.
Career Progression
We provide a Dental Nurse Forum, which has regular FREE evening courses specifically for dental nurses, these are delivered either online or in person through the year. The forum has been set up to give dental nurses an ability to network and have support for wellbeing plus be empowered to progress and further their career.
In addition, we provide a range of educational opportunities that will enable you to upskill and/or deliver additional services in your role as a dental nurse.