Training advice to become a dental nurse

[weenireeni]

yeh ive rung sheff coll about the apprenticeship before, but they said id have to find my own employer.

 

i sent CVs and letters to tons of dentists and never heard anything back

[EstherC]

To become a dental nurse you need to find a position as trainee dental nurse in practice and do the national or NVQ qualification - however by september this will become the new dental nurse diploma. These qualifications can be done by distance learning programs or at sheffield college as day release) Sheffiled college do this qualification.

To become a dentist you do not need dental nursing. You can progress through dental nursing but would need to jump through many holes. A simpler option would be to do the access to higher education course (or specific A Levels needed) and apply to do dentistry at university. Another option would be to do dental nursing followed by dental hygeine and Therapy diploma/degree which involves, fillings, cleaning and extracting baby teeth but no diagnosis (this is done by the dentist who then refers to the therapist to carry out the work) but no prosthetic work.

You don't acually need dental nursing for this and can apply with access to higher ed course or ALevels but dental nursing would help with the competition to get in. Sheffield dental Hospital do this and the application process is separate to UCAS (April - September). Leeds do the degree so UCAS is the way to apply. If you choose not to dental nurse first then perhaps work experience is a good idea before applying for dentistry/hygeine therapy as the interviewer for the course will be glad to know you know what you're getting yourself into. Hope this helps