National Certificate in Dental Nursing / Diploma in Dental Nursing

National Examining Board for Dental Nurses

The National Certificate in Dental Nursing is a GDC recognised registerable qualification open to all trainee dental nurses working in practice.

It provides the knowledge required for dental nurses to progress in their careers, moving on to post registration courses or further study at higher educational levels. For a complete course syllabus please go to www.nebdn.org

All areas of dental nursing are covered in the course which is approximately 14 months in duration. The course is delivered online although evening classes are available in the Preston area.

To apply for this course in the first instance, please complete the online application form. Once we have received this, you will be contacted by a representative from SMG Training for a brief telephone interview. This interview is informal and serves to ensure that you have all the support structures in place to successfully undertake this course; this includes ensuring you have an in-house mentor to assist you in the practice-based aspects of the training programme. The in-house mentor should be a dental surgeon, hygienist / therapist or qualified dental nurse (preferably via the National Certificate.)

To successfully gain the qualification, you must pass an examination which is in two parts. The first part is a written exam and must be passed for you to access the second part — an Objective Structured Clinical Examination or OSCE. This is a series of practical tasks which you would be reasonably expected to perform as a dental nurse such as charting and preparing instruments. In addition, students are also required to complete a Record of Experience in the workplace.

The course is a rolling programme which means students can enrol at any time. On enrolment you will be allocated an exam date approximately 14 months from the start of your course and we will then register you with the NEBDN. Once you are registered the course can commence. The course is set out as 14 modules and each module must be completed and passed before you will be permitted to move on to the next one. The modules will be emailed to you by your personal tutor who will be available for any help and support. Within each module there are assessment activities which you must submit to allow your tutor to monitor your progress and at the end of each module there will be an exam. You will not be permitted to move on to a further module until all minor assessments and module exams have been successfully completed. For the practical component of the course, your personal tutor will work closely with you and your in-house mentor to ensure that you receive all the training and guidance you need.

You are encouraged to work towards a specific exam date and every reasonable effort must be made to complete the course in the allocated time. In the event of extenuating circumstances, you must inform SMG Training as soon as possible to advise us of any problems and we will reschedule your examination.

To apply for this course, click here.

If you have any further questions please contact Julia on julia@smgtraining.co.uk or 01253 340588