My Career journey from Dental Nurse to Oral Health Improvement Team Lead
Nicola, Oral Health Improvement Team Lead
I started my career straight from school as a dental nurse in general practice. While working in practice, I enrolled at my local college to complete the dental nursing qualification and gained my certificate whilst learning on the job. I spent several years in general practice, gaining valuable clinical experience.
An opportunity came up to apply for a dental nurse role within the Community Dental Service. The role really appealed to me, as it felt like a chance to work with a different patient group and be part of something broader. I applied, was successful and made the move into community dentistry.
At that point, there were no dedicated roles within the Oral Health Improvement Team. However, I was keen to put my new qualification into practice, so I put myself forward to deliver nurse led, one-to-one oral health sessions to support the service. This allowed me to build experience in oral health improvement while continuing in my dental nurse role.
Not long after starting, I was offered the opportunity to enrol on the National Certificate in Oral Health Education. At the time, I was still finding my feet in a very different working environment compared to general practice, but opportunities like this don’t come around very often. What really stood out to me was that the service supported this development and funded the course, something I hadn’t experienced previously in practice. I jumped at the chance and successfully completed the qualification.
I then waited patiently for an opportunity within the Oral Health Improvement Team. When a vacancy finally arose, I applied and was successful. Initially, I worked in a split role until a full time position became available, which I was also successful in securing.
I absolutely loved working in oral health improvement and quickly realised how passionate I was about prevention and making a real difference in communities. Along the way, I took up internal opportunities to broaden my experience, including joining a staff representative employee group, which helped me develop additional skills and confidence.
I also applied to become a panellist for the General Dental Council’s Fitness to Practise, as a way to further develop professionally and gain experience in a different area of dentistry.
When the Oral Health Improvement Team Lead post became available, I felt ready to take the next step. I applied for the role and that opportunity has led me to where I am today.
My journey shows that careers don’t always follow a straight line and that internal opportunities, supported development and being open to new challenges can lead to roles you might not have imagined when you first start out.
