In any dental practice you’ll find a range of roles from Dentists and Specialists, to Nurses and Hygienists. In many you’ll also find Dental Therapists, a role that many are unaware of. As one of the Dental Therapists at Oakwood Dental Practice I want to shed a little light on my role and scope of practice, and how that fits in alongside Dentists and Dental Hygienists.
Why is the Dental Therapy role so unknown?
While the role of Dental Therapist has been around for many years, the scope of practice and training has changed considerably over time. Changes to the scope of practice for Dental Therapists in 2013 included the addition of Direct Access, which allows patients to visit the Dental Therapist or Dental Hygienist without having to see a Dentist first.
The skills and experience of Dental Therapists has also been recognised by the expansion of scope to include basic examinations to include checking for cancer, soft tissue abnormalities, tooth wear, dental decay and gum disease.
What can Dental Therapists do?
Dental Therapists are, in terms of speciality and training, similar to a GP nurse practitioner in a medical setting. We have had advanced training and are qualified to perform almost all standard dental procedures that dentists can, including:
- Clinical and periodontal examinations
- Oral cancer checks
- Fillings
- Dental hygiene and stain removal
- Periodontal treatments
- Placing temporary fillings and temporary re-cementing crowns
- Taking dental x-rays
- Extractions and treatment of baby teeth
Each Dental Therapist can then do further specialist training in areas including:
- Direct Access
- Carrying out tooth whitening to the prescription of a dentist
- Administering inhalation sedation
- Removing sutures after the wound has been checked by a dentist
Referrals
As a Dental Therapist, if I identify any areas of concern or cannot provide treatment within my scope of practice, I will refer you to a dentist for further assessment and treatment.
What’s the benefit of the Dental Therapist role at Oakwood Dental Practice?
The key benefits to our patients is that as a team we have greater capacity to perform standard dental work. The Dental Therapists, who also perform all hygiene therapy treatments, work alongside the team of dentists creating a broad pool of expertise, enabling us to, together, fulfil complex treatment plans for our patients. This also allows our dentists to focus on complex cases where their extensive expertise is necessary and optimised.
Another benefit to our patients is cost. The extensive Dental Therapist training and subsequent experience enables us to carry out standard dentistry to an exceptionally high standard, but at a lower cost to our patients than treatments performed by a dentist.
For those who prefer to have their standard dentistry performed by a dentist, that’s absolutely fine – we have options to suit every patients’ needs and requirements.
My experience and thoughts on Dental Therapy
I have worked in Dentistry for the last 26 years in various roles, the last 15 as a dual qualified Dental Hygienist and Dental Therapist. My vast experience has given me insight into many situations and treatments, and throughout my career I’ve adapted and developed my skills and knowledge.
Every patient has different needs, past experiences and expectations. My aim is to use my experience and knowledge to provide a high standard of treatment to all patients and provide a bespoke service to them. My focus is always on preventative care and education to help my patients maintain a healthy mouth and to provide a better foundation for more complex treatments where necessary.
I love working as a Dental Therapist because the broad scope of practice means I can often treat patients throughout their entire journey to achieving dental fitness, building a more personalised service and referring more specialised treatment to the appropriate clinician quickly.
From the perspective of the wider practice, having Dental Therapists on the team enables us to treat patients more efficiently, often reducing the number of appointments that our patients need to have pre-treatment. Patients also have greater choice, they can be treated by myself or directed straight to a dentist for the appropriate appointment.
As a close team we all work together to provide the best possible service for our patients.
With a breadth of knowledge, we’re able to draw on each other’s expertise to offer a wide range of treatments in-house, tailored to our patients’ needs.