How did I end up a Dental Hygiene & Therapist?

I graduated from the University of Sheffield in September 2021, but how did I get there?!

I took French, Biology and Chemistry at A-level and originally had applied for dentistry, taking the UKCAT and doing MMI interviews. I had offers and I was holding places at both Sheffield and Newcastle. Come results day, it wasn’t meant to be. Instead of the required AAA grades, I achieved BBB. At the time I was devastated and thought this was the end of a career in dentistry for me.

However, later that week, the H&T team at Sheffield contacted me and offered me a place on their course instead. I didn’t even know what a dental therapist was at the time! They invited me to come and see the university and meet some people to see what I thought. I already knew I loved Sheffield as I was holding an offer there originally but once I met the team and heard about the course and the role in more detail, I was ready to give it a go.

I started in April 2019, having never worked as a nurse or in dentistry at all whereas most of my cohort had been dental nurses before, some for over 15 years. This was a steep learning curve but I picked up the essentials quickly and fell in love with the course. We also did a lot of learning alongside the dentists (BDS) in lower years as a lot of the content is essential for everyone. This also allowed us to be well integrated and understand the roles of one another better.

The course was hard but also very rewarding and I found a particular passion for helping those from more impoverished backgrounds and those who struggle to access healthcare.

I now work across 3 different practices in Manchester working across both NHS and private practice, allowing me to work with a huge variety of different people in different areas of need.

I went from not knowing dental therapy was even a career that existed to now never wanting to work in any other career. Personally, I enjoy taking charge of my own clinical list but also being able to work alongside a dentist for support and to give the best patient care. On reflection, I also realised there were parts of dentistry that I didn’t want to take on and didn’t realise there was a role where I could have the best of both worlds!

I am now passionate about introducing people to dental hygiene and therapy as another role in dentistry and I wish I had known sooner about this role as its the perfect role for me.