Senior Restorative Dental TherapistNHS

Job summary

As a Senior Dental hygienist / therapist within the Restorative dental department you will help lead and deliver the dental related preventative services for the Regional Head & Neck Cancer patients treated within the outpatient department and ward. This will involve care of this patient group before, during and after their cancer treatment. This will include the delivery of pre treatment care to the prescription of the consultants within the department including preventive advice, periodontal treatment, restoration placement and impression taking. As a Senior Dental hygienist / Dental therapist you will lead the Restorative oral health education clinics.

Main duties of the job

You will help provide services for complex multidisciplinary patients requiring care from restorative dentistry working with orthodontic and maxillofacial colleagues in relation to their planning, treatment delivery and maintenance. This will involve treatment of patients with complex hypodontia, adult cleft lip and palate and facial trauma who receive complex restorative dental care and dental implant based rehabilitation.

Job description

To maintain Continuing Professional Development in line with the General Dental Council Regulations, in order to fulfil personal training needs.

To be a member of British Association of Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists

To carry out dental treatment under prescription from the Restorative Consultants

Provide dental hygiene care to a wide range of patients

Manage Head and neck cancer patients and their relatives/ carers at various stages of their treatment pathway including counselling patients on the dental effects of their recent diagnosis and treatment

Obtain a detailed dental history from patients and evaluate their medical history

Carry out a clinical examination within their competence

Complete periodontal examination and charting and use indices to screen and monitor periodontal disease

Diagnose and treatment plan within their competence

Prescribe radiographs

Interpret various film views used in the department

Plan the delivery of care for patients

Give appropriate patient advice

Provide preventive oral care to patients and liaise with dentists over the treatment of caries, periodontal disease and tooth wear

Undertake supragingival and subgingival scaling and root surface debridement using manual and powered instruments

Use appropriate anti-microbial therapy to manage plaque related diseases

Adjust restored surfaces in relation to periodontal treatment

Apply topical treatments and fissure sealants

Give patients advice on how to stop smoking

Take intra and extra-oral photographs

Give infiltration and inferior dental block analgesia

Place temporary dressings and re-cement crowns with temporary cement

Place rubber dam

Take impressions

Care of implants and treatment of peri-implant tissues

Identify anatomical features, recognise abnormalities and interpret common pathology

Carry out oral cancer screening

If necessary, refer patients to other healthcare professionals

Keep full, accurate and contemporaneous patient records

If working on prescription, vary the detail but not the direction of the prescription according to patient needs. For example, the number of surfaces to be restored or the material to be used.

Carry out direct restorations on primary and secondary teeth

Carry out pulpotomies on primary teeth

Extract primary teeth

Place pre-formed crowns on primary teeth

Co-ordinate/ lead team delivering Restorative Oral Health Education (ROHE) for the departments Head and Neck Cancer patients on the ward and related departments.

Ensure equipment used is in suitable working condition and raise any concerns.

About us

University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust is one of the largest and most modern in the country. Based across two sites, Royal Stoke in Stoke-on-Trent and County Hospital in Stafford, we are proud to serve around three million people and we're highly regarded for our facilities, teaching and research. We are the specialist centre for major trauma for the North Midlands and North Wales.

All of our employees make a valuable contribution regardless of role here at UHNM and we are proud of our wide range of development packages aimed at ensuring that everyone has the opportunity to fulfil their true potential.

UHNM create and encourage a culture of inclusion, providing equal opportunities for career development that are fair and transparent. We are committed to being a diverse and inclusive employer and foster a culture in which all staff feel valued and respected. In return we ask all of our employees to make a commitment to the values, co-created by or staff, patients and carers, and that unite us as a Trust.

At University Hospitals of North Midlands NHS Trust we know that investing in, supporting and developing our staff has a direct impact on the quality of care that we deliver. Our employees are as important as our patients and the population that we serve.