Dental Tribune United Kingdom Edition

A t the time of writing I am working with a wonderful young den- tal team, helping them to de- velop their treatment paths for patients, enabling them to of- fer a wider range of excellent care in a cost effective man- ner by utilising the existing team members. This will see the dental nurses doing more and more and walking beside each patient, supporting them on their journey through treat- ment to health and happiness in their mouths. The role will not be purely assisting and co- ordinating the patient, but will have clinical elements which will be revisited throughout the patients treatment and beyond into the patients long term maintenance plan. The nurses are excited and enthusiastic to be more clini- cally involved in the patients care and have more personal development in their career path. This new way of work- ing will ease the burden on the hygienist/therapists and allow at least one of them to pursue more of the aesthetic anterior work that she is enjoying devel- oping. The dentist, still the all important centre of this meth- od of working, will also have more freedom to develop and attend courses and improve his enjoyment of his working day. Sound too good to be true? It is not as unattainable as some might think and I truly believe it will be a big part of future dental care plans. The key el- ement here in building this blended line of care for patients is the empowerment of the team to implement this type of care. And the tutors I am using? The team itself. Mentoring is very common in other lines of professional development, but is underused and misunder- stood in dentistry. Mentoring can be as simple as supporting someone in their belief of their own capabilities, to working with members of the team to impart information and skills the mentor is an expert at. If we look at Maslow’s hierarchy of needs with regards to motiva- tion, you can see that the final part of personal growth and satisfaction is self actualisation and imparting knowledge to others is a huge part of this. In this particular case we have a nurse with a fantastic impression taking ability who will work with the others, in- cluding the hygienist thera- pists, to improve overall qual- ity of impressions taken to the prescription of the dentist. An- other nurse, still studying, will be able to support in the theory development and academic un- derstanding behind the care plans they are developing. The hygienists and therapists will support in the nurse’s de- velopment of an oral health programme and fluoride ther- apy again all under the pre- scription of the dentist. The dentist will share his excellent photographic skills and de- velop all team members with this and support the hygienists and therapists as they expand their skills into whitening for patients. The receptionist will share her experience and com- munication skills to help eve- ryone to listen better and inter- view more effectively. Using mentoring in prac- tice, with all the technology available to us now, need not be a drain on clinical time. It is true that some things are better learned in a peer group outside of practice. It is also equally true that, with good guidance and implementation, the team developing together can bring something unique and attrac- tive to the practice in terms of the relationship of the team, the quality and consistency of care for the patients and the recommendation that comes from those two things. For some, mentoring comes naturally: For others confi- dence can need a boost. The most important tool in this is communication. It is also es- sential that the mentor has kept up to date with which- ever aspect of practice that they wish to mentor in. By sup- porting any mentoring with theoretical work, you can often find the mentor learning too! With a positive attitude from all involved, both parties gain in terms of career skills and confidence and the quality of work in practice tends to im- prove too as everyone is aware of the standard they are aim- ing for. There is also a personal sense of satisfaction that is gratifying for all involved. If mentoring is something you might be interested in but you worry you don’t have the right abilities then the Faculty of General Dental Practition- ers has a wonderful one year distance learning certificate course, which would give you the tools and the peers to work with to build this skill group into your life. The course is approximately one year long and is mainly distance learn- ing, with only three face to face study days in London. There is a good level of computer lit- eracy needed; otherwise any- one with any qualification re- lated to dentistry can apply. For those looking to develop their career pathway further in the future, the course counts as 30 postgraduate credits. The cost of the course is reasonable but high to some DCPs relative to their pay scale. This has been considered and there are two 50 per cent price places available to DCPS for the course starting in Septem- ber. The forward thinking prac- tices I am sure could see how this skill coming into their mix could allow better implemen- tation of new skills in prac- tice and work in developing a strong, confident workforce, who in turn develop a strong, healthy practice. And, if you needed more persuading, once they start the course, if all fu- ture development has a clear aim and objective, gives the opportunity to feedback, and is documented; then you have a tidy number of verifiable CPD points for the team too. DT For more details on the course visit www.fgdp.org.uk/ professionaldevelopment/den- tists/mentoring.ashx For more information on Maslow’s theories visit http:// psycnet.apa.org/books/10793/ Mentoring in practice – a rewarding expansion role for all team members Mhari Coxon provides some insight into the art of mentoring About the author Mhari Coxon is a dental hygienist practising in Cen- tral London. She is chairman of the London British So- ciety of Dental Hy- giene and Therapy (BSDHT) regional group and is on the publications com- mittee of its jour- nal, Dental Health. She is also clinical director of CPD- forDCP, which provides CPD courses for all DCPs. To contact her, email mhari.coxon@cpdfordcp.co.uk. May 23-29, 2011United Kingdom Edition