There has been much discussion recently about expanding the roles of dental care professionals. These changes enable them to more effectively utilise their full scope of practice, and alleviate the workload of dentists to enable patients to receive the highest possible standards of care. As of July 2024, there are 10,051 dental hygienists, 6,690 dental therapists, and 64,968 dental nurses registered with the General Dental Council in the UK.[i] By enabling these vital members of the team to work to their full capacity, expand their skillset, and lead evermore fulfilling careers, the dental practice can run more smoothly, resulting in a better experience for all patients.
New powers for dental hygienists and therapists
Previously, dental hygienists and therapists were able to administer medicines such as local anaesthetic and high-strength fluoride, but only under the prescription of a dentist. In this workflow, they were required to leave their patient to interrupt a dentist’s work to ask them to sign a prescription to enable them to continue with their own patient care. Recent changes, which came into effect in June 2024,[ii] enable dental therapists and hygienists to supply specific medications on their own. This legislative change aims to make the process more efficient for everybody, including both the practice team and their patients.[iii]
Overwhelming support was received when public consultations ran in 2023, with 97% of respondents approving of these new powers.[iv] When dental hygienists and therapists with the appropriate training use their new powers, patients will receive the primary care they need more quickly and simply, enabling dental hygienists and therapists to provide pain relief and fluoride without approval from a dentist.[v]
However, even without these new interventions, there are a number of ways that dental practices can encourage their dental hygienists and therapists to expand their skillset, and utilise their full scope of practice. For example, dental therapists can provide restorations, carry out pulpotomies, and extract teeth, and both dental hygienists and therapists can develop additional skills to enable them to provide tooth whitening under a dentist’s prescription, administer inhalation sedation, and remove sutures.[vi]
Encourage your dental nurses’ career development
It can also be extremely valuable to encourage the career development of the dental nurses in your team. By motivating your dental nurses to develop additional skills within their scope of practice, you not only provide them new career opportunities, you also help the practice to run more smoothly, freeing up your time, and that of your dental team to enable better patient care.
Just a few of the additional skills dental nurses might like to develop include oral health education, assisting in the treatment of patients who are under conscious sedation, patients with special needs, and orthodontic patients, and intra and extra oral photography.[vii] Further to this, dental nurses can undertake a range of other tasks under the prescription of another clinician – including taking radiographs.[viii]
The benefits of high-quality equipment
Using high-quality equipment makes expanding dental care professionals’ skillsets easier for the whole team. The latest models will have all of the features you and your team need to inspire confidence, and ensure that things go right the first time. When selecting an imaging system, for example, choose a system which offers high-quality images, ease of use, and exceptional patient comfort. It can also be incredibly useful to acquire your equipment from a team who truly understands you and your workflow.
Clark Dental has over 49 years of experience working with the dental profession, and is perfectly placed to ensure dental practices like yours receive the ideal equipment for them. Its wide range of dental imaging solutions includes the Axeos Extraoral Imaging System, the 2D/3D imaging system which can be flexibly adapted to suit the specific and evolving needs of your practice. Axeos is easy to use, to help the practice team to work more efficiently, reduce errors, and provide a comfortable patient experience. The EasyPad is intuitive to use with self-explanatory symbols, and the patient positioning and image assistant enables smart height adjustment, reducing waiting times for patients, and ensuring reproduceable image quality.
By encouraging additional training and skill development in your practice, you enable your dental team to achieve their potential and develop their careers, all whilst making the patient journey smoother and helping the practice to run more efficiently. Utilising high quality equipment will help the dental team to feel more confident in using their new skills, and will reduce the risk of errors in your practice.
For more information call Clark Dental on 01268 733 146, email info@clarkdental.co.uk or visit www.clarkdental.co.uk
[i] General Dental Council. Registration reports. July 24. https://www.gdc-uk.org/about-us/what-we-do/the-registers/registration-reports
[ii] https://www.the-dentist.co.uk/content/news/gdc-welcomes-powers-for-dental-hygienists-and-therapists-to-supply-and-administer-medicines/
[iii] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-powers-for-dental-and-pharmacy-staff-to-free-up-appointments
[iv] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-powers-for-dental-and-pharmacy-staff-to-free-up-appointments
[v] https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-powers-for-dental-and-pharmacy-staff-to-free-up-appointments
[vi] https://www.gdc-uk.org/docs/default-source/scope-of-practice/scope-of-practice.pdf
[vii] https://www.gdc-uk.org/docs/default-source/scope-of-practice/scope-of-practice.pdf
[viii] https://www.gdc-uk.org/docs/default-source/scope-of-practice/scope-of-practice.pdf
