Dental nurse

Hina Halai, dental nurse at The Ridgeway Dental Practice in North Harrow, Middlesex.

Hina Halai

‘I think for nurses who work in the NHS the next few months may be a trying time, however because I work in the private sector I am very optimistic about my future. Some of my friends who are nurses in the NHS are facing the uncertainty of whether their practices will go private or even stay open, so it is a bit up in the air. Being sure of where our practice is going allows us to offer a more attractive option to former NHS patients who are looking to go private. I love developing relationships with my patients and I have become good friends with some of them and I can see this continuing into the future. I don't think we will change anything we do here but if we do, I am sure it will only be to improve the service even more.‘

Hygienist

Being sure of where our practice is going allows us to offer a more attractive option to former NHS patients who are looking to go private.

Melonie Prebble, hygienist at Senova Dental Studios in Watford.

‘I absolutely think that our future is bright. I think the recent changes have given all team members more of a career pathway and that can help to unify teams more and work to the best of their abilities for their patients. I think the level of enthusiasm can only rise and morale will improve which means that the patients will get better care. The fact that all nurses are going to be registered raises their profile and in turn raises the profile of the profession as a whole. In the past the perception could have been that there is a focus on the dentist and that everybody else just joined in to support them whereas now I think the focus is moving to the team approach and the organisation and delegation of tasks to those who are skilled. A lot of it still comes down to training within the workplace and how that can help to develop the dental team – that will be a continuing challenge in the future.‘

Technician

Stephen Wears, technician at Woodfords laboratory in North Yorkshire.

‘There are going to be a lot of changes in the next few years and the future could be bright but there is also a lot of negativity out there at the moment. Technicians don't have a lot of contact with other members of the dental team and sometimes we don't actually get the feeling that we are part of the team. The new contract will affect us quite a lot as we ultimately rely on dentists to send us work. If they run out of money eight months into their contract then it is technicians that are going to suffer first because they can do other things to keep the practice running. I feel under pressure at the moment but I guess we will have to wait it out and see what happens. I have been doing this job for more than 30 years now and I have never felt this bad about the profession.‘

Practice manager

Patricia Grantham, practice manager at Regent Street Dental Practice in Nottingham.

Patricia Grantham

‘I think the future for the different groups within the dental team is vast because there is such a lot out there that is happening for us all. I also think the roles will continue to change greatly. We are a totally private practice so all the NHS changes haven't affected us, but I have been trying to keep my finger on the pulse to see what is happening to my colleagues in NHS practices. For practice managers I see the role being developed like a manager in many other businesses. Traditionally dentists haven't treated their practices as businesses but now they are starting to move that way and think about how they market themselves. Fortunately, we have been on business coaching courses for the last four years, which has really opened our eyes to what we could have been doing and what we could do in the future.‘

Receptionist

For practice managers I see the role being developed like a manager in many other businesses.

Glenys Bridges is development adviser for the British Dental Receptionists' Association.

‘We do have some concerns about the future for receptionists. With dental registration coming in for dental nurses it means that they are going to have mandatory CPD, which they have to complete and it could be that the cost of doing that may impact on the amount of investment for further training that receptionists attract. The other thing that we would liked to see revisited in the future is the term ‘receptionist‘ because we don't think it is particularly accurate. Many years ago a receptionist would have probably been the dentist's wife who lived above the practice and would answer the phone and greet patients. However, these days people need such a lot more in terms of marketing, customer care and computer literacy skills and all of these things get overlooked with the term ‘receptionist‘. We have still got mountains to climb in the coming year but if the profession gets wise and recognises the value of the receptionist irrespective of whether they are registered or not then the future will look bright for the whole dental team.‘

Therapist

Irene Ellis is a therapist at Portsmouth School of Professionals Complementary to Dentistry.

‘The easy answer is yes I think the future does look bright. I have been in the profession since 1970 and, from my point of view, in the first 30 years our development was restricted because of the limitations on our place of practice and scope of work. However, the new changes will give us a wider remit with more responsibility and the potential to develop our own practices. It has taken a long time for the rest of the dental team to understand how we fit in to a practice, how we can help and how it can all work out and add to that the new contract when dentists are wondering how they are going to work never mind how they are going to fit a therapist into the set up – it will be a challenging time ahead. However, I only see it as a short-term blip, as the uncertainty is affecting the whole of the profession, and given time we will be fully integrated into the dental teams of the future.‘

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