Top Tips

“In DT FT have a diary and keep a tally of the number of each treatment completed each day so you can keep track of areas you have more/ less experience in.
Also, this helps when filling out the e-portfolio as you need to input the amount of each treatment you’ve completed every month.”

“It’s important to make the most of tutorials with your educational supervisor. You can ask to cover any topic and I learnt a lot in these sessions.”


“Always ask for help, if you’re unsure during treatment don’t be afraid to ask your educational supervisor to come and check your work.”

“It can be daunting at first especially with the time pressures but it’s important to never rush clinical work, eventually you will work faster and be more confident but it takes time. Remember that you have only just graduated so don’t be so harsh on yourself!”

“Having a good relationship with your nurse- offer to make them tea, bring in snacks etc. It makes such a difference at work when you have a good relationship with your nurse. Having good communication is important, let your nurse know how you like things so they can adapt. Every clinician has a different way of working, it makes your job a lot easier if you and your nurse are in sync.”

“Create templates of notes before you start. I have set notes for exam, perio tx, restorations, xla etc and I edit them accordingly for each pt. This saves time as you don't need to type up the notes from scratch each time as you already have a template there.”

“Look after your mental and physical well-being by doing the things you enjoy and relieve stress.”

“Make the most of your clinical sessions starting now! Double book patients, if you find you have gaps, request more patients! Value all the experience you can get with your tutors because soon you will be out there making decisions independently in practice.”

“Have confidence in yourselves. Applying to jobs can be daunting but be reassured that practices will want you!
Many will be more than happy to take on a newly qualified dental therapist even if you decide not to do the foundation year scheme.
In my experience, practices have been very welcoming and understanding, checking up on me regularly and giving me longer appointment times whilst I gain more confidence and experience.”  

“If things don’t go to plan, don’t worry because everything will work out in the end, even when you don’t think they will!”  

“Work is such good fun, you apply everything you’ve learnt and worked so hard for, it’s far less scary than you think. We all get the first day nerves, it’s completely normal, but after that it all comes natural.”

“Help is only an ask away. Keep in contact with your tutors as they will be able to answer nearly all of your queries.”

“If you haven’t already, set up a group chat with other dental therapy students in your year. This has been an amazing help for me, as you are all going through the same process, it’s great to have a network to ask each other questions and share ideas in a more relaxed way.”

“Definitely do the foundation year, I really struggled with my confidence at first especially with decision making, my supervisor in practice has been really supportive and is always there to advise me. This has helped build my confidence in practice.”

“Don’t put pressure on yourself to be a perfect clinician, by the end of CLC3 I was very comfortable and confident on clinic at the university and when I started in practice in an unfamiliar environment I felt like I didn’t know anything. This is a normal feeling and it will take time to become comfortable as an independent clinician in practice.”

“Tell the practice what you are nervous about at the start so they can introduce these patient treatments to you slowly to prevent you feeling overwhelmed.”

“You learn on the job and you’ll realise it is not as hard as you may think so enjoy it.”

“Make yourself note templates for each treatment e.g. child exam, adult exam, GIC, composite, amalgam, extraction etc. This helps prepare for practice, treatments will be stressful at first and you don’t want to add to that stress and time pressure by trying to write notes from scratch and come up with them from the top of your head. You can also look at your colleagues note templates in practice to see what they write and how they format them or you could do it with a tutor at the university before you leave.”

“Don’t overdo your workload in the first year. Alongside the foundation year I work as a private hygienist for 2 days, this could be an option for some students. At first I wanted to have 2 therapy jobs however after these first few months I am happy with this scenario for the time being. This is because the therapy days with the foundation year are very informative and packed with varied treatment, (mainly fillings and child treatment & treatment planning), the hygiene days have allowed me to work on my time management and confidence as the treatment is quite repetitive and Liverpool is very thorough with training on periodontal disease, I know myself and other colleagues from Liverpool feel very confident treating periodontal disease.”

“For the first couple of weeks until you settle into the practice dress presentably and always be in your surgery ready for the first patient, your nurse will appreciate you running on time.”

“Appreciate your nurse, always say thank you to your nurse throughout the day as they make your life easy.”

“Work in a couple of different practices to get a variety of experience.”

“Foundation training is a very good way to help you settle into practice life.”

“It will take a few months to feel settled, so don’t panic at the start.”

“Ask lots of questions, educational supervisors are there to help,”