Dental nurse dental care professionals and work as part of the dental team. A dental nurse support the dentist in all aspect of patient care, this includes getting the appropriate instruments ready, mixing materials and ensuring patient comforts.

Working as a Dental Nurse in the UK
In general practice, sometimes the dental nurse may help with reception work, making appointment, taking payments, dealing with paperwork and meeting and reassuring patient.

Career prospects
Gaining the dental nurse qualification is the first step in a career within dentistry. There are many different specialist careers within dentistry and dental nursing is usually a requirement for those wishing to become a dental Hygienist or Dental therapist.

Skills and Qualities required for a Dental Nursing.

• Be genuinely interested in the welfare of your patient and have a friendly and sympathetic disposition,
• Have a high level of manual dexterity
• Good eyesight and good physical health
• Have a confident and reassuring manner and be able to relate well to a wide range of people including children and people with special needs.
• Have a flexible approach to work in order to cope with frequent changes in a busy environment.
• Be able to work well in a team
• Have good organisation skills to manage the administrative aspect of the job.

The Syllabus

• Health and safety in the workplace
• Emergencies in the dental surgery
• Legal and Ethical issues in the Provision of Dental care
• Anatomical Structures and system Relative to Dental Treatment
• Oral Disease and Pathology
• Patient Care and Management
• Assessing Patient Oral Health Needs and training planning
• Oral Health Promotion and preventive Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry
• Oral Surgery
• Orthodontics Procedures
• Dental Drugs, Materials, Instrument and equipment
• Pain and Anxiety Control in dentistry
• Radiography
• Communication

This syllabus follows the strict guidelines outline by the National Examination Board of Dental Nursing.

How to qualify as a Dental Nurse
You must first study at an accredited National certificate training centre or provisionally accredited centre who can then submit your name to the national examination board for dental nurse for examination.  

• Full qualification of the Diploma In Dental Nursing is achieved by completing the process below; the student recognizes that failure to complete any part of the process will result in not successfully becoming qualified as a dental nurse.
• Attend a course with an approved centre (Harriet Ellis Training & Recruitment Group are fully approved)
• Find a work placement no later than the 13^th Week of your course in order to complete the entire record of experience document in time for our deadline.
• Starting September 2008 there will be a charge of £20.00 for a copy of the record of experience which is a mandatory requirement by the NEBDN.
• Complete all required practical and written assignments from The Record of Experience.   
• Successfully pass both parts of The Diploma Examination for Dental Nurses.

Examination Fees

• All students should be aware that the National Examination Board for Dental Nursing charge £320.00 to all applicants wishing to sit the Diploma exam. This examination fee will need to be submitted to Harriet Ellis Training & Recruitment Group once the course has started. You will be notified of the submission deadline.

• Re-sit fee - £50 (Written) OSCE Re-sit fee - £250 (Practical)

  Please note that as from May 2012 all successful candidates will receive a NEBDN qualification badge along with their certificate. Therefore students will not need to apply for and pay extra for this.

  NEBDN will conduct a further analysis of costs prior to announcing fees for 2013 and beyond.

• Exam applications will be forwarded to the examination board for acceptance on the following conditions-
  • Examination fees have been paid.
  • The student’s record of experience document has been completed.
  • The student has attempted to attend 80 percent of scheduled lessons.
  • You hold a valid current CPR or Basic Life Support certificate.
  • Your Mock Exam result shows progressive understanding of the Syllabus.
• The requirements listed above are subject to deadlines set by Harriet Ellis Training & Recruitment Group. Harriet Ellis Training & Recruitment Group reserve the right to set these deadlines. All students will also need to have a valid CPR or Basic life support certificate before being permitted to sit the Diploma examination. Harriet Ellis Training & Recruitment Group will offer the CPR or Basic Life Support Course within the first 4 weeks of the Diploma course starting.     
• Your Theory Examination will take place on a Saturday. You will be given a list of Examination Centre’s with your application form, for you to choose from. You will receive a exam notification letter about 4-6 weeks before your exam takes place.
• The new exam will be split over two parts, held on two separate occasions. The first part consisting of a written paper, containing 75 Multiple Choice questions (MCQs) and 50 Extended Matching questions (EMQs). The total time allowed for this part will be 2 ½ hours. Candidates who are successful in the written section will automatically be entered to the practical OSCE assessments (Objective Structured Clinical Examinations). This will consist of 15 practical OSCE stations, each lasting five minutes, with two rest stations
• The candidate will complete all paperwork related to the exam. Your tutor will then submit these applications before the appropriate deadline. You will be given forms by your tutor to complete in due course. In your induction, Harriet Ellis Training & Recruitment Group will explain all deadlines related to the students to ensure a smooth course experience.

Hepatitis B

You must be vaccinated against Hepatitis B and if possible provide evidence of Hepatitis B vaccination blood test results, to show that you’re anti body levels are high enough. You must also ensure that you are up to date with your tetanus booster and all childhood vaccinations before you start working in any dental practice.

ADVICE TO STUDENTS

Instructors and administration staff will make every effort to inform students as to any changes that may occur during the course, however as a centre Harriet Ellis cannot be held responsible information that a student has not become aware of due to absence, incomplete forms being filled in, change of postal address, change of e-mail address, change of telephone numbers where the student has failed to inform the centre of such changes in their circumstances.

Students are advised that we do not guarantee employment. However our consultants will assist you in your own efforts t o locate suitable employment. Though study materials are provided students are advised to purchase additional publications to support their research.

All students should expect to undergo a basic literacy and numeracy test before given a place on the course. It is advisable that students take the time to visit our college in order to discuss what they need to do to qualify as a dental nurse.

• It is in the student’s interests to attend all scheduled classes on this course. Harriet Ellis Training & Recruitment Group cannot be held responsible for information students have missed which was either given verbally in the class or in written form due to lateness or other personal problems that students may experience and as a result will not supply extra lesson time or handouts to any student who requests extra help for these reasons. It is the responsibility of the student to do extra reading and research for information that has been missed.  
• The following rules are to be followed whilst you are at Harriet Ellis Training & Recruitment Group
  • Keep the training room, kitchen and toilet facilities clean and tidy. Please pay special care and attention to the training room’s furniture and carpets.
  • Do not enter any other offices at any time
  • Only smoke in the designated areas outside of the building. No smoking inside the building or toilets as it is a fire hazard
  • Do not leave personal belongings unattended, as Harriet Ellis will not be responsible for theft, loss or damage to property.
  • Please switch off all mobile phones whilst in the classroom.
  • Please always be considerate to other students whilst you are studying in class.
• In the event of a fire line up calmly by the door with the rest of the class. Proceed calmly to the fire exit and wait in the car park at the front of the building. Our onsite fire warden will instruct you.
• Please do not swing on chairs or sit on tables as this could leave too serious accidents.
• If you have any type of accident (however minor) please report it to the course tutor where he will record it in Harriet Ellis Training & Recruitment Group accident book

Equal Opportunities 

• You will meet a variety of other students from different backgrounds and different levels of ability. We are committed to ensuring that everybody is treated equally and fairly, regardless of age, sex, ethnic origins, background or disability. In line with our policy you must treat everybody with whom you come into contact with respect. Should you experience any discrimination or harassment then please come and talk to a member of Harriet Ellis Training & Recruitment Group staff.
• Good discipline is essential to the smooth running of the course. If you are found guilty of misconduct i.e.: consistent poor timekeeping, attendance, homework etc, the following steps may be taken: a) Verbal Warning b) 1^st Written C) 2^nd Written d) Final written warning.
  
   
• Gross Misconduct will result in an instant dismissal of the course. Examples of gross misconduct are:
• Smoking in the training centre or forbidden places
• Drugs
• Alcohol
• Theft
• Verbal abuse towards the tutor or staff at the training centre
• Violation of Equal Opportunities policy
• Physical abuse toward the tutor, students or any staff member
• Destruction of property in training room or anywhere in the offices.
• Any Fraudulent signing of documents for eg. ROE registration forms or ROE tracking documents.
• In the event that you have any grievance relating to the training then please follow the steps below:
• Speak to your tutor to discuss your views

In the event that you have any grievances relating to the training then please follow the steps below:

(a) Speak to your tutor to discuss your views
(b) If you are not satisfied the please put your complaint in writing to Hadley Silver, Manager. You will recieve a response inside seven working days