My working life. Dental Nurse in training in 1952

Part 2. Continuing Dental Nurse training.

After I had completed my probation period of one month at the Edwards and Moss Surgery in Woolwich. I was invited to sign a contract of employment, which I was delighted to do because that meant I had a secure job for at least the next two years.
I traveled to Greys Inn Road for my first lecture feeling very excited but nervous.
The lecture began with a bit of history of The Royal Free Hospital. It was founded in 1828. to provide free healthcare to those who could not afford medical treatment. The title 'Royal' was granted by Queen Victoria in 1837 in recognition of the work with cholera patients.
For many years the Royal Free Hospital was the only hospital in London to offer medical training to women. This began a close association with The London School of Medicine.
Formal training for Dental Nurses in the UK started in 1930's. Two reports in 1940 recognized the contribution a trained assistant could make to a dental practice, from putting the patients at ease to providing chair-side assistance with treatments. Even so, many dentists employed untrained staff due to the shortage of the trained nurses.
The advocates of formal training and regulation said, "that training was important to keep up with advances in modern dentistry and may advance the profile of dental nursing within the health professionals. It was important to create a national standard etc," the report went on.
There was some resistance by the General nursing profession, in accepting the title of Dental Nurse, preferring that we were called Dental Chair-side assistants.
I felt very fortunate to be working in a practice that encouraged me to take formal training in a Dental School in an NHS hospital.
I was given a training programme and a date for taking the exam at the end. The course included How to help the nervous patient, ways of relieving stress and anxiety.  Health and safety in the workplace. How to maintain safety, protecting the patients, ourselves and the environment from cross injection or injury. How to use gas and air equipment. There are risks attached to flammable gasses and we were taught how to avoid accidents. We were given instruction in what to do in a medical emergency. Caring for the unconscious person, or someone that has fainted or having a heart attack or epileptic fit or bleeding.

 Practical training was given in the clinics, where the postgraduate dentists in training worked. The patients were often referred to the Dental hospital with unusual problems. One that stood out in my mind was a man that had a cancerous growth in his palate. The growth had formed due to the trauma caused by a suction pad that was fitted to his upper denture. Chairsde assisting these dentist was amazing. I had never seen such a variety of oral conditions that can occur.
We were told about the different Specialties and training available to post registration Nurses. You could work in NHS or Private practice, with a Specialist dentist in Oral Surgery, Surgical Dentistry, Restorative Dentistry, Orthodontics.
There was so much to interest me in maintaining a healthy mouth. Teaching people how to look after their teeth and gums with good oral hygiene. Seeing what the dentist could do to restore peoples teeth instead of just pulling out teeth. The emphasis was to prevent tooth decay with treatments such as fissure sealants and Fluouride protecting the patients teeth.
At the start of free NHS dental care, many people thought that if all their teeth were removed and replaced by false teeth, that would be the end of their problems. No more tooth ache, job done. How wrong they were. When the gums shrunk and the fitting of the false teeth changed, the dentures rubbed the gums giving them ulcers. There is nothing worse than illfitting false teeth for making your life hell.
 I had seen too often dental extractions leading to replacement with false teeth. I had watched
The dental technician makes the appliances in the laboratory. The NHS quick fix days have now gone.
In time people changed to regular routine examining patients every six months and taking  X-rays to assist diagnosis. Dental fillings with amalgam and white fillings in front teeth were routinely done in Woolwich. Mr. Thakur would save teeth that would had been too damaged to repair with amalgam by using gold fillings or crowns. Prior aproval was required for these more expensive treatments.

The London hospital provided me with the experience I might never have had the opportunity to see in Woolwich.
I enjoyed meeting different people and dealing with different situations, learning something new every day. I was well supported by Joyce in the Woolwich surgery and I settled into the team very well she told me. I soon beame more confident, collecting the patients' records, showing the patients in and I stayed with the patient during treatment. Mr. Thakur was happier with two nurses assisting him because this improve efficiency. I could assist Mr. Thakur by using the sucker and protecting the patient's tongue, keeping it away from the drill. Joyce mixed the filling materials so that no time was wasted. Joyce looked after the patients when the dentist had finished, dealing with the paperwork and answered any questions about cost and managed the appointment time.  The receptionist took the payments due and arranged the next appointment. I cleared away the used instruments cleaned up and prepared for the next patient.
A year later another junior had joined the Woolwich branch to start her training and so life went on.

After qualifying, I was asked to work in other surgeries as a relief nurse. Gaining experience seeing how other practices were managed made a nice change. My extra traveling expenses were paid for so I was not out of pocket. My wages were increased every year. I  had no complaints. I had worked for Mr. Moss for four years when he said there was a job available at the Bond Street Surgery. I  was asked if I would like to move to the Bond Street branch to work with an Australian dentist named Dr. Burns. It meant a substantial pay increase to cover the traveling cost. I accepted the job

The new surgery in Bond Street was on the third floor. The ground floor of the building was The Dolsis shoe store.