Dental Therapists: Career-Related Tidbits

There are a lot of individuals behind the success of any dental procedures. The staffs of dental health are doing their best during their work so that they would be able to give their patients proper dental care services. In short, this aims for better and safe dental experience.

Way back in 1917, the dental therapy profession started, there was a great shortage in school service dental officers and with the help of Armed services, dentists were recruited during the World War I. Due to the shortage of dental professionals, England trained Dental Dressers who became the very first health care professionals to be labelled as Dental Therapists in the world. At that time, dental therapists were tasked to do procedures based on American hygienists with other procedures like filling of cavities as a result of tooth decay and tooth extractions in school clinics.

By the 1920s, Dental Therapists had formal training from the School Dental Services established by New Zealand. They started their first exposure to patients who suffer dental problems in rural communities. This system continues up to this day and is adapted by many countries in the world with rural populations. Dental therapists fill in the gap for shortages of dental professionals in providing services that need dental health attention. The Dental Act of 2002 only permitted dental therapists to work on community and dental hospital services but was later on reviewed and amended.

Luckily, dental therapists were allowed to do general practice in both the private and public sectors of the community. As time passed, the training and qualification to become registered Dental Hygienist and Dental Therapist merged and resulted to a dual diploma qualification in Dental Health.

Dental Care these days are both changing and evolving. It helps dentists get the facts and delegate great portions of their duties to other dental care professionals to cater different dental care services that patients demand. You can now pay a visit to a dental therapist for a filling instead of going to the dentist. This can be related to the other health practices like going to nurses, physiotherapist, and the likes instead of going to the doctor.

The General Dental Council provides list of duties that a dental therapist can perform. For example, performing intra and extra oral checkup and assessment, periodontal treatments, dental sealants, x-rays, fillings, too extraction and many more. Dental therapists also can take impressions, replace dental crowns and carry out dental treatments with the use of local anesthetic. These duties are carried out with utmost standards and safety which makes dental therapists reliable alternatives of dentists.

The next time you experience any dental emergencies; you can reach out to your local dental therapist and expect the quality services. You can now choose a wide range of choices for appointments and dental care providers to see which best fit you and which ones you feel comfortable with. Dental appointments don’t have to be intimidating or scary for most people with dental anxiety and fear of dentists.