NEBDN - National Diploma in Dental Nursing - DENTAL NURSING COURSE

What dental nurses do:

Dental nurses support dentists in the healthcare of patients. Their work includes helping to prepare the dental surgery and ensuring that equipment and working areas are sterile. While the dentist examines and treats a patient, dental nurses help by performing tasks such as making sure the patient is comfortable, recording the dentist’s observations, passing instruments, using a suction device to remove saliva and debris from the patient’s mouth, preparing materials for fillings and tidying the surgery.

Introduction:

The National Examining Board for Dental Nurses (NEBDN) and the Education Comittee from the General Dental Council has developed and modified "The National Certificate" with a replacement qualification, "National Diploma in Dental Nursing".

The new examination, the NEBDN National Diploma in Dental Nursing, is based on a new updated curriculum and contains selected response questions such as Multiple Choice and Extended Matching questions, as well as Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE) for practical assessment. These will be supported by a Record of Experience work-based assessment which will provide students with a reflective account of their duties within the dental team.

The Exam Format :

Part 1 (2 ½ hr written paper) 75 Multiple Choice Questions and 50 Extended Matching Questions.

Part 2 (1½ hr practical section) is held 6 weeks later and consists of a series of practical tests known as ‘Objective Structured Clinical Examinations’ or ‘OSCE’s.

Please note: Students must pass Part 1 in order to be entered for Part 2. If they do not pass, they will need to retake Part 1 some weeks later and postpone their part 2 date.

Further information about the examination, post certification qualifications and training providers can be obtained from the National Examination Board website.

Units of study:

• Health & Safety and Infection Control in the workplace
• Emergencies in the Clinical Environment
• Legal and ethical issues in the provision of dental care
• Anatomical structures and systems relative to dental care
• Oral disease and pathology
• Patient care and management
• Assessing patients’ oral health, needs and treatment planning
• Oral health promotion and preventative dentistry
• Restorative dentistry
• Oral surgery
• Orthodontic procedures
• Dental drugs, materials, instruments and equipment
• Pain and anxiety control in dentistry
• Radiography
• Communication

Career opportunities:

Career and employment prospects are excellent across the country and abroad and with the necessity of getting registered to practice, this course will enable you to apply for further post graduate opportunities and training as a Dental Therapist / Hygienist, specialist nursing courses including Oral Health Education, Conscious Sedation, Radiology and Dental Tutor and assessing or even teaching!