DENTAL THERAPIST

Dental therapists are registered dental professionals who carry out certain items of dental treatment direct to patients or under prescription from a dentist.
A Dental Therapist can undertake the following if trained, competent and indemnified:
1. Obtain a detailed dental history from patients and evaluate their medical history
2. Carry out a clinical examination within their competence
3. Complete periodontal examination and charting and use indices to screen and monitor periodontal disease diagnose and treatment plan within their competence
4. Prescribe radiographs
5. Take, process and interpret various film views used in general dental practice
6. Plan the delivery of care for patients
7. Give appropriate patient advice
8. Provide preventive oral care to patients and liaise with dentists over the treatment of caries, periodontal disease and tooth wear
9. Undertake supragingival and subgingival scaling and root surface debridement using manual and powered instruments
10. Use appropriate anti-microbial therapy to manage plaque related diseases
11. Adjust restored surfaces in relation to periodontal treatment
12. Apply topical treatments and fissure sealants
13. Give patients advice on how to stop smoking
14. Take intra and extra-oral photographs
15. Give infiltration and inferior dental block analgesia
16. Place temporary dressings and re-cement crowns with temporary cement
17. Place rubber dam
18. Take impressions
19. Care of implants and treatment of peri-implant tissues
20. Carry out direct restorations on primary and secondary teeth
21. Carry out pulpotomies on primary teeth
22. Extract primary teeth
23. Place pre-formed crowns on primary teeth
24. Identify anatomical features, recognise abnormalities and interpret common pathology
25. Carry out oral cancer screening
26. If necessary, refer patients to other healthcare professionals
27. Keep full, accurate and contemporaneous patient records
28. 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.
Additional skills which dental therapists could develop include:
· Carrying out tooth whitening to the prescription of a dentist
· Administering inhalation sedation
· Removing sutures after the wound has been checked by a dentist

Please refer the Job description for details