ORTHODONTIC AUXILIARIES - A PILOT PROJECT

Aim To undertake a pilot study to determine a possible training progra mme for orthodontic auxiliaries. Design and setting Trainee hygienists who had been accepted onto a 2-year programme were asked to attend th e Bristol Dental School well before their course was due to begin in o rder to participate in a pilot orthodontic assistant auxiliary trainin g programme. Methods A modular course of one month's duration was cons tructed based on the programme at the University of British Columbia. This aimed to teach skills such as impression taking, bond placement, debracketing, band cementation as well as core knowledge relevant to t hese procedures. Results At the end of the course all participants wer e judged to be performing the tasks they had been taught competently a nd safely. Conclusion UK dental nurses can be trained to fill the role of an orthodontic auxiliary. It would appear that an introductory cli nical skills course of one week followed by an orthodontic skills trai ning of three weeks is sufficient for a qualified dental nurse of abov e average abilities such as typifies those who are currently applying for places on UK dental hygiene courses. It is estimated that a furthe r period of nine months supervised training will be necessary for thos e who have successfully completed such a training to develop clinicall y useful speeds when delivering these skills.