Dental Nursing - Advanced apprenticeship in health
Awarded by City and Guilds of London
Full time only, 18 months
Awarded by City and Guilds of London
The course
The Advanced Apprenticeship in Dental Nursing is an 18 month full time course accredited by City and Guilds of London. Our dental nursing programme is based at the Leeds Dental Institute with clinical placements in our South Leeds, Bradford and Hull outreach facilities.
The role of a Dental Nurse
The dental nurse works within the dental team to provide oral health care for a patient. As a dental nurse, you will come into close contact with patients of all ages who may be anxious and in need of support and reassurance. Good communication skills and a friendly and compassionate manner are essential.
You are expected to assist the dentist in all aspects of patient care. This will include:
- Sterilising and preparing instruments
- Preparing and mixing materials
- Looking after the comfort of the patient
- Assisting the dentist with various procedures such as fillings, minor oral surgery and extractions
Dental Nursing is a statutory registered profession. The regulatory body for the dental profession is the General Dental Council. Upon completion of your studies, you will have to apply to the General Dental Council to be entered on the register. You will be assisted in this by the staff within the school.
Apprentices work at our outreach facilities and the Dental Institute for 4 days per week, for one half day in the classroom with the School of Dental Nursing and one half day guided study.
Course information
The course aims to provide a structured curriculum of study covering the knowledge and competence set down in the Dental Nursing Occupational standards and those required to achieve the Apprenticeship standard.
The Apprenticeship standard includes the following components:
- Level 3 Diploma in Dental Nursing
- Level 2 Functional/Key Skills in Maths and English
- Dental Nursing End Point Assessment
Each week time is spent in the classroom with trainers to gain underpinning knowledge and work on portfolio building. Clinical topics covered within the course include:
- Health and safety
- First aid
- Principles of infection control/decontamination
- Delivering oral health information
- Assessment of oral health and treatment planning
- Dental radiography
- Scientific principles in the management of oral health diseases
- Clinical materials and procedures
You will be expected to achieve clinical competency in all elements of Dental Nursing and you will collect evidence of your clinical abilities throughout your training through witness statement and by direct observations recorded by your trainer/assessor.
You will be expected to complete work packs to evidence your underpinning knowledge of the academic content of the course.
Entry requirements
Applicants must be at least 16 years of age and have a minimum of 4 GCSEs (grade C or above) or equivalent with English Language, Maths being essential and a Science subject being desirable.
Employment information
Your main base will be the School of Dental Nursing located on Level 6 of Leeds Dental Institute, close to the city centre of Leeds.
Dental Nurse Apprentices work on a rotational basis at our outreach clinics in Beeston, Bradford and Hull and within the clinical departments of Leeds Dental Institute. Apprentices travel to and from Hull by minibus.
Apprentices work at our outreach facilities and the Dental Institute for 4 days per week, for one half day in the classroom with the School of Dental Nursing and one half day guided study.
You will be working, in the main, with Undergraduate Dental Students but will come into contact with the whole Dental Team including Dentists, Dental Hygiene/Therapists, Dental Technicians and Dental Nurses.
You will be allocated to one of our Trainer/Assessors who will teach, assess and support you throughout your Apprenticeship.
All classroom/study work is delivered in the School, of Dental Nursing within Leeds Dental Institute. We have dedicated classroom facilities and access for the Leeds University Medical and Dental Library as well as access to IT facilities. Functional skills are delivered in partnership with Bradford City Training.
Clinical teaching and assessment are undertaken during clinical rotations.
You will have to undertake six rotations of one month duration to Hull outreach during your training. During these rotations, you will have to arrive at the Dental Institute at 7.45 am to ensure you catch the minibus transport to Hull.
Future opportunities
You will be eligible to apply for any vacancies for Dental Nursing within the Dental Institute. Towards the end of the programme, you will be given the opportunity to undertake work placement in General Dental Practices in your local area. This will give you a chance to gain contact with employers in your local area which will help you to gain employment once you have completed the programme.
Dental nurses can work within dental hospitals, in community clinics, in the Armed Forces, in the NHS and in private general dental practices. Once qualified, you may choose to undertake post qualification courses which cover different specialists within dental nursing such as Oral Health Education, Sedation, Orthodontics and Special Care.
How to apply
We regularly recruit groups of apprentice dental nurses.
Vacancies are advertised approximately every six months through NHS jobs.