Liz Hopkins
9.15 WHERE IS ORTHODONTIC THERAPY TRAINING AVAILABLE
IN THE UK?
There are currently eight General Dental Council approved centres for the training of orthodontic therapists in the UK. Further information on training is available from the websites of the University if Warwick (http://
www2.warwick.ac.uk/ fac/ med/ study/ cpd/
dentistry/ therapy/ ) and the British Orthodontic Society (http://www. bos. org. uk/ public- patients- home/ careers/ orthodontic- careers- for- nurses- technicians- and- therapists)
Pearl: Are you ready to incorporate an orth-odontic therapist into your practice? Have you already embraced the extended duty team approach? (Table 9.4.)
Table 9.4 Is it for You?
• Do you like to do everything?
• Do you employ a hygienist?
• Do you have extended duties nurses?
• Do you take the impressions photos and X-rays?
• Is it right for your team?
• Do you have a suitable candidate?
• Do you have additional support staff?
• Can you afford it?
• Do you have sufficient surgeries, waiting area, discussion areas, parking?
• Does your staff share your views?
85 THE EXTENDED DUTY ORTHODONTIC TEAM
9.15.1 Expectations of the Trainers Trainers, who must be on the specialist list in orthodontics, have high expectations in gen-eral. They should, however, remember how long it took them to train as an orthodontist and must realize that whilst at the end of the core weeks training the student will be compe-tent in all clinical tasks, the various tasks will need significant practice and a considerable amount of time before they will be able to be efficient at them. The trainer will need time scheduled in their own appointments book to monitor and oversee the students as every patient will be seen by the trainer at least once and usually twice at every appointment.
Trainers will expect a return on their invest-ment of training costs both in terms of finan-cial considerations and in their time commitments.
9.15.2 Expectations of the Team
An experienced supportive orthodontic nurse will be of great assistance to the student orth-odontic therapist during the first few months, when the student may find tasks more demand-ing than they had anticipated. Care should be taken to pick up on any jealousy from orth-odontic nurses who might feel overlooked and also wish to train as an orthodontic therapist.
9.15.3 Expectations of Patients
The patients are accustomed to having differ-ent team members carrying out various proce-dures and the student orthodontic therapist will be more easily accepted. Team communi-cation skills are essential in dealing with any patient concerns. Patients should be advised that some of their treatment will be carried out by a student and consent obtained before any tasks are undertaken. Patients are generally very supportive and pleased to be involved in the career development of the team, but they must feel fully informed.
9.15.4 Expectations of the Student Orthodontic Therapist
Tasks that a specialist orthodontist has done for many years can look easy to the assis-tant; however, the reality is that orthodontic therapist students are often frustrated that their expectations of how easy the practical aspect will be do not match the reality, which can cause initial loss of confidence and upset. This is where preparation of the sup-porting team is especially important. The Diploma in Orthodontic Therapy pro-gramme is modular to allow for assimilation of both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. The student must demonstrate com-petency in clinical skills prior to progressing to undertaking these procedures on patients (Figure 9.4).
Students will complete a clinical reflective portfolio, a clinical logbook of all activity dur-ing traindur-ing, every activity is monitored graded and acknowledged by the trainer’s con-temporaneous signature.9
Pearl: Individual development for the benefit of the team, leads to the concept – the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.
Figure 9.4
Training students working in the laboratory training facility.
9.16 SUMMARY
The report from the educational meeting Looking forward: Educating tomorrow’s dental team states that dental education must ensure that new members of the dental profession are fit for pur-pose and remain lifelong learners, with a clear understanding and commitment to their new professional responsibilities.10 http://www.bos .org.uk/public-patients-home/careers/
orthodontic-careers-for-nurses-technicians- and-therapists.
REFERENCES
1. General Dental Council. Developing the den-tal team. Curricula Frameworks for Regis-terable Qualifications for Professionals Complementary to Dentistry. September 2004.
2. Eaton KA. Outreach teaching—Coming soon to a practice near you. Prim Dent Care 2005;12:115–6.
3. Department Health Healthcare Reform 2011. https://www.gov.uk/government/
publications/nhs-future-forum-recom-mendations-to-government-on-nhs -modernisation.
4. General Dental Council. Scope of Practice.
https://www.gdc-uk.org/Dental professi onals/Standards/Documents/Scope%
20of%20Practice%20September%202013%
20(3).pdf.
5. Cure RJ, Ireland RS. The development of an outreach training programme in ortho-dontics. Br Dent J 2008;204:631–4.
6. Pollard T. Orthodontic therapists—The current situation. J Orthod 2000;27:207–9.
7. Hodge T. Orthodontic therapists—A chal-lenge for the 21st century. J Orthod 2010;
37:297–301.
8. Robinson PG, Willmott DR, Parkin NA, Hall AC. Report of The Orthodontic Workforce Survey of The United Kingdom February 2005. Orthodontic Manpower Survey, 2005.
9. Orthodontic diploma, Cure R, Hopkins E, Ireland R. Dental Therapy Update January/February 2012.
10. Wilson NHF, Jones ML., Pine C, Saunders WP., Seymour RA. Meeting report-looking forward: Educating tomorrow’s dental team. Eur J Dental Educ 2008; 12:176–99.