EDUCATION dental auxiliaries Dental technician education and training — a survey P. A. Barrett,1 and W. M. Murphy,2 the results refers to these 12 respondents. As the Dental Auxiliaries Review Group report continues in the Response to some questions varied from consultation stage, the dentist needs to keep up-to-date on all 100% because of multi-response or non- aspects of auxiliary career developments. Dental technician response. The material was sufficiently education and training has changed radically during the past small to be hand-sorted. 25 years as shown by three surveys — the latest carried out Results during 1998 and reported in this paper. As leader of the dental All colleges which responded provided den- team, the dentist needs to be aware of these changes in order to tal technician training. This was in contrast make an informed contribution to the debate. with previous surveys, particularly in 1984, when there was no up-to-date register and questionnaires were sent to colleges which In The first five years,1 the role of the den- 25 years with particular emphasis on had ceased to offer this course. All colleges tist as the leader of a team of auxiliaries removable prosthodontics. employed full-time qualified dental techni- which includes the dental technician is cians as lecturers in dental technology, 37 in emphasised. This concept is not new and Methods total (Table 1). The numbers of full-time has been developed in detail in the A postal questionnaire with a total of 22 lecturers in each college varied from one to Nuffield Foundation report, Education questions was formulated in two sections. seven, and were distributed as follows: one and training of personnel auxiliary to den- The first section referred to staffing and college — seven lecturers, two colleges — six tistry.2 All dentists are aware of the impor- courses offered, and the second to lecturers, two colleges — three lecturers, five tance of the dental technician in oral prosthodontic materials and equipment. colleges — two lecturers, and two colleges rehabilitation. But for the busy dentist, The questions and format followed that of — one lecturer. All colleges employed part- interest in his technician may be limited the previous two surveys. Where appro- time lecturers, 31 in total (6.8 whole-time to the quality assessment of a piece of lab- priate, questions were updated to take into equivalents) who taught from 2 to 11 ses- oratory work for his patient carried out by account new materials and techniques. sions per week. A direct comparison that technician. Regardless of its impor- The questionnaire was posted to heads between staffing in the three surveys is not tance, this is only one aspect of the techni- of schools of dental technology in all 13 possible because of differences in the num- cian’s contribution to oral health. colleges of higher education in the UK ber of colleges. However, there appears to be In a review of prosthetic technology in which offered courses in dental technician a trend toward full-time staffing since the the undergraduate curriculum, Murphy education and training, the names and first survey in 1973. submitted evidence that the dentist was addresses being supplied by the Associa- In all three surveys nearly 70% of col- not carrying out duties expected of a leader tion of Teachers of Dental Technology leges employed visiting lecturers to and that the technician believed that the (fig. 1). Replies were received from 12 col- teach specialist subjects (not included in dentist had little interest in his education leges (92% response) and the baseline for Table 1). Clinical subjects were normally and training.3 Recently, personal commu- taught by local NHS consultants or GDPs, nication with dental technicians suggests and other subjects such as anatomy, phys- that this situation has not changed. In brief iology and statistics, were taught by uni- However, dental technology has G Within the past 6 years, three versity staff when available. 1,2,9 changed, and is continuing to change as reports have identified the most At the time of this survey (Spring 1998), can be seen in a comparison of three sur- cost-effective way of improving and a total of 991 dental trainees had registered 4 delivering oral healthcare veys, the first in 1973, the second 11 G for courses. This was a considerable 5 All reports agree that in the future, years later, and the third carried out in high quality dentistry will be change from 1973 (1,288 trainees) and 1998 and reported in this paper. The delivered by a team of dental 1984 (1,638 trainees). Full-time education methodology was the same in all three auxiliaries led by the dentist and training was offered by 92% of col- and this survey gives an indication of G The dentist must be conversant with leges compared with 24% in 1973 and developments in education and training all reports and developments in the 37% in 1984. All colleges offered part-time of dental technicians during a period of education and training of all and evening courses. Thirty-three per cent auxiliaries of colleges provided block courses com- G 1Senior Chief Dental Technologist, University Dental Dentists should make a constructive pared with 22% in 1984. No colleges Hospital NHS Trust 2Senior Lecturer, Dental School, contribution to the current debate on offered City and Guild courses — a major Heath Park, Cardiff CF4 4XY the consultation paper Professionals change from previous surveys (Table 2). REFEREED PAPER complementary to dentistry9 Received 19.05.98; accepted 17.11.98 In contrast (Table 3), all colleges pro- © British Dental Journal 1999; 186: 85–88 vided Business and Technology Education BRITISH DENTAL JOURNAL, VOLUME 186, NO. 2, JANUARY 23 1999 85 EDUCATION dental auxiliaries Council (BTEC) courses at Ordinary National Certificate and Diploma levels (ONC/OND). In addition, six colleges offered Higher National Certificate and Diploma levels (HNC/HND). Scottish Vocational Education Council courses (SCOTVEC) are included under the head- ing BTEC. The educational requirements for entry to BTEC courses were broadly the same as in the 1984 report apart from two colleges which asked for five GCSE subjects at grade C minimum. Eleven colleges indi- cated that either ONC or OND were mandatory for entry to HNC or HND courses. Only one college accepted City and Guilds qualifications as an alternative. Two colleges offered degree courses with entrance requirements of two A-level subjects at grades C/C in one college and grades C/D in another. Fig. 1 Distribution of colleges of higher education offering courses in dental technician All respondents emphasised that den- education and training in the UK. The uneven distribution of colleges is evident, tal technician training was incomplete particularly the scarcity in the south of England without exposure of the trainee to clini- cal dentistry. This exposure was pro- ment, splitting the second and third year All colleges taught the use of the simple vided by placements in various clinical of a full-time course. Colleges appear to hinge articulator and only one did not environments. Some trainees gained a have adapted their placements to avail of teach the use of either the average value or wide range of experiences in more than local resources. the semi-adjustable articulator. Forty-two one clinical institution. Eleven colleges per cent gave instruction in the function- had placements in undergraduate dental Prosthodontic education and training ing of the fully-adjustable articulator. schools, ten in NHS or commercial den- The three most recommended text- Acrylic resin teeth were used by all tal laboratories and one in a general den- books were: Notes on dental materials by colleges, the same usage as in 1984. In tal practitioner laboratory. These E. C. Combe, Dental technology and contrast, only 8% used porcelain com- placements took a wide range of formats, materials by H. J. Wilson, and Anderson’s pared with 17% in 1984 and 50% in the commonest being either 1 day per Applied dental materials by J. F. McCabe. 1973. Eleven brands of acrylic teeth and week or 16/17 week blocks. One respon- A further 29 titles, covering all aspects of five brands of acrylic denture base dent reported a 1-year industrial place- dentistry, were also reported. materials were used. Table 1 Numbers of lecturers of dental technology in UK colleges of higher education 1973, 1984, 1998 Full-time Part-time Year 1973 1984 1998 1973 1984 1998 Number of 21 18 12 21 18 12 colleges Total number 23 51 37 63 35 31 of lecturers in all colleges Variation in from 0 to 8 from 0 to 11 from 1 to 7 from 0 to 9 from 0 to 8 from 1 to 8 numbers of lecturers between colleges 86 BRITISH DENTAL JOURNAL, VOLUME 186, NO. 2, JANUARY 23 1999 EDUCATION dental auxiliaries Table 2 Percentage of UK colleges of higher education which offered City and Guilds long way toward resolving this criticism. courses at three levels, intermediate, final and advanced. Advanced courses were A number of respondents recommended divided into general, maxillofacial, orthodontics, and crown and bridge. None of the a similar system for technicians, that is, colleges offered City and Guilds courses in 1998. the registrable qualification for all techni- Year Intermediate Final Advanced Advanced Advanced Advanced cians should be BTEC at OND level, fol- general maxillofacial orthodontics crown and bridge lowed by a technician vocational training programme which would be organised on 1973 95 95 52 24 29 48 a UK basis and would be mandatory for 1984 50 78 50 11 56 56 1998 – – – – – – all technicians before being allowed to offer their services independently.