Trainee Dental Nurse - Future Career Progression?

I've recently started as a trainee dental nurse after two failed stints at uni; I'm finding the structure of a full time job is helping my overall focus. However, thinking ahead, I'm wondering what my options are for future career progression. The government careers website seems to indicate that dental hygienist and therapist roles can be worked towards once you are a qualified nurse. Supposedly there are part-time courses offered by dental schools you can do alongside your job but upon looking for these, I couldn't find anything. I'm wondering if it's just a bit of a myth and you actually have to do a degree these days. If this is the case, is it advisable to do a dentistry degree? Dentistry degrees are of course 5 years but are obviously broader in scope and if I would have to realistically take a career break to do a 3 year dental hygiene/therapy degree anyway, 2 years more seems worth it. My last question is, if you have worked as any kind of DCP for some time, how favourably does this impact university applications? I have an A* in psychology, A in biology and A in history, so *technically*, I think I would be eligible to apply for universities like KCL but most universities seem to ask for an A in chemistry too. In my case, would experience in a dental practice negate the need to study chemistry?
Sorry for the rambling, just hope someone can provide some clarity on my options

hey im a dental nurse and applying for dental hygiene this year. long story short, most nurses attempt to go onto a hygiene course and the nursing qualification definitely helps with that. you can become an advanced nurse with taking courses such as fluoride application, but often you won’t get more pay and it’s just for experience. applying for dentistry as a dental nurse isnt seen tooooo often as the qualification generally doesn’t help the application. it would be hard, but definitely possible. you can also work your way up to practice manager, treatment co ordinator and things like head nurse which you will get a payrise with. these are definitely good roles!! getting into hygiene and therapy is really hard, as its competitive. most people apply more than 1 year, for example i have heard of people applying again and again for 2-4 years usually. hope this helped?! 💕💕💕💕

Hey, thank you for your answer, that's definitely cleared up a lot of things! With the hygiene course you're going on sorry, is that like a full-time degree or are you doing it part time whilst still working at your practice? I don't know if that's obvious but I'm just a bit confused still haha

so for example if i get in, im going to ask mg current practice if i can have a flexible contract where i can work in easter holidays and things, or i will find a small part time job near uni xx

Oh ok, I see now, thank you for your answers, they've been so helpful! I hope you're successful with your application by the way! 🙂 xx

hey im a dental nurse and applying for dental hygiene this year. long story short, most nurses attempt to go onto a hygiene course and the nursing qualification definitely helps with that. you can become an advanced nurse with taking courses such as fluoride application, but often you won’t get more pay and it’s just for experience. applying for dentistry as a dental nurse isnt seen tooooo often as the qualification generally doesn’t help the application. it would be hard, but definitely possible. you can also work your way up to practice manager, treatment co ordinator and things like head nurse which you will get a payrise with. these are definitely good roles!! getting into hygiene and therapy is really hard, as its competitive. most people apply more than 1 year, for example i have heard of people applying again and again for 2-4 years usually. hope this helped?! 💕💕💕💕

Hi, I’m a dental nurse and I’m also applying for DHT this year. I just wanted to ask which unis you’ve applied for, and do you have any post qualifications? Wishing you all the best with your application xx

i’ve applied to bristol, lancashire, portsmouth and teesside. i just have my nursing and im completing access course at the moment. have interviews with ports and teeside this week also xx

i’ve applied to bristol, lancashire, portsmouth and teesside. i just have my nursing and im completing access course at the moment. have interviews with ports and teeside this week also xx

How exciting! Have you done much interview prep? xx

ive done soooo much prep im literally losing my mind😢😢😢😢😢😢i got rejected from lancashire and essex it is so competitive hopefully we get in. i have a dental page on ig if you want to talk more about it. @analoladental

Hey how did your interview go today? X

That’s really good! How did it go? Xx