Cat Edney explores how mentorship shapes dental therapists’ growth, sharing insights from two professionals with diverse experiences.
The journey of a dental therapist is rarely linear. It is shaped by unique experiences, professional challenges and the evolving role we play within modern dental teams. While some therapists find themselves in well-structured, supportive environments, others struggle with autonomy, referrals and recognition.
The path to confidence and clinical fulfilment is often paved with mentorship, collaboration and progressive practice models.
I am honoured to be able to share two dental therapists’ professional journeys – one navigating the complexities of referral-based work and another thriving in a therapy-led practice. Their experiences highlight the ongoing challenges in our profession, but also the power of support, mentorship and workplace culture in shaping career satisfaction and professional development.
Jenna Buttle
I have been qualified for nearly five years and I am currently working at a fully private, multi-specialist practice where I’ve been since its inception, two and a half years ago. This meant I wasn’t stepping into someone else’s shoes and I was afforded the rare opportunity of designing the hygiene/perio protocol exactly how I wanted, with full control of my diary and timings. Goodbye H30 life!
My background prior to qualifying as a therapist was in compliance as a dental nurse and clinical administrator. The practice owner quickly recognised that I could bring so much more to the table besides hygiene, and I naturally started to actively participate in these areas within the practice.
The owner has now moved to a fully therapy-led model and I am responsible for the new patient registration process within the practice. I then liaise with the treatment coordinator to guide and oversee the patient journey within the practice, whether that be for orthodontics, implants, periodontal treatment or more.
This allows me to treatment plan any work that I feel comfortable doing and I refer the parts that are not within my scope. The dentists are referred patients complete with intraoral scans, a full series of clinical images, any indicated radiographs and full base charting and indices, all ready to enable them to get straight on and treatment plan.
It’s a wonderful working model because patients no longer ‘belong’ to any one single clinician. They are a patient of the practice and we all work collaboratively, drawing on everyone’s expertise and areas of interest.
Instrumental mentors
I think finding progressive practice owners who are open to change and new ways of working is key for dental therapists. I will never forget when I went for the interview at my current practice and the owner asked me if I had a portfolio! A portfolio? Me? It occurred to me that the owner viewed me as a clinician in my own right. Why shouldn’t I have a portfolio of my work? I bought a shiny new flashlight for my DSLR and started photographing all my work which routinely gets added to my portfolio.
I’ve been for many interviews and when I broach the subject of using my full scope, I was often told yes absolutely and assured I’d get ‘full clinical freedom’, only to find once I’m working there was very little freedom to deviate from the back-to-back H30 day. My one piece of advice to anyone struggling with this would be to find empowering and progressive mentors.
There have been several instrumental mentors in my dental career. A clinical dental technician (CDT) who owned a practice and was never too busy to teach me, a tutor who recognised all I really needed was reassurance and not being terrified anymore than I already was, a line manager in community who was so generous with her vast experience and knowledge, and a non-dental practice owner who thrives on enabling people to reach their full potential. These people have all helped to shape and guide my career path.
I suffer from a chronic lack of confidence (something I am coming to realise is endemic in dentistry) and something good clinicians can quickly become debilitated by, so finding empowering individuals like these was essential to reaching my full potential as a clinician.
I think one of the biggest challenges faced by hygienists and therapists upon qualifying is a lack of autonomy over treatment timings and diary management. It is just one of the things my current practice has given me is and it’s no coincidence that it’s here that I do my best work. Clinicians take many years to become both proficient and quick, so in the meantime let us normalise hygienists and therapists benefitting from autonomy in treatment planning, in the same way dentists do.
Anonymous
I’ve been qualified for over a decade now – I can’t believe how time has flown! My experience has been quite varied from working in mixed practices, high end private practices as well as community and NHS based therapy roles. I am now mainly doing hygiene which I love, with a day of NHS-based therapy work.
In my therapy role, I work through referrals only. It has been a huge learning curve and a challenging one at that. In my previous positions, I worked through referral and direct access, effectively working towards creating a therapy-led model in the practice. Being able to be present for most, or the entire, patient journey significantly built up the confidence I have in myself as a clinician. I enjoy building a rapport with patients, collating information, and carrying out tailored treatment for patients.
Now that I am working in a role that is solely referral based, I feel in some ways my autonomy has slightly gone. This does feel slightly unsettling and alien in a way. I think this may be because the process has been somewhat disorganised. It has taken a while to get referrals organised and appropriately booked.
It has also been a bit isolating in a sense that usually I’ve been used to working collaboratively with the dentists, however now I have been pretty much left to get on with things.
The positive is that I’m being pushed to think independently and face things head-on, but it has left me hugely anxious at times. Sometimes referrals are sent for treatment I don’t feel confident in carrying out just yet or are borderline beyond my remit.
Confidence knocked
In all honestly, I expected that it would be challenging, but that with experience and time I would be at a place where I am settled in my role and working collaboratively. I am quite surprised that after all these years it is still not the case. Sadly, I find I am still being met with some individuals who don’t understand my role as a therapist or appreciate our value.
Over the years, looking back, I have faced a number of challenges in my career, as well as highs. In my early years, I faced the challenge of not being rewarded for my work or compensated fairly due to being quite early on in my career.
In more recent years, I have experienced bullying and unfair treatment from those I thought should have been more supportive – a situation which I also faced during my university days. Interestingly, after having dealt with this after years of experience in dentistry, to say my confidence has been knocked is an understatement.
Thankfully though, to overcome this, I have utilised many opportunities to push forward and maintain a strong, positive mindset. Coaching, speaking with fellow therapists, and ensuring that I have clear boundaries and a clear vision of a working environment I would like to work in have bolstered my confidence to move forward. I’ve also been able to go on many courses which have given me the tools to improve clinically, and I have found that conferences are a great place to network and connect with fellow peers.
In the grand scheme of things, change needs to happen on a level far beyond anything I can achieve as an individual. The change has to come from clearly defining our role as key members of that dental team. With constant talk of a need for more NHS clinicians to better serve the growing need of dental services, our role is needed more than ever. For therapists to be utilised in the way they were intended to be many years ago, we need to all work together. Dentists, nurses, and other members of the team.
Support is crucial
Both of these journeys underscore an essential truth: mentorship and support are crucial for professional growth and confidence in dental therapy. Whether it’s an inspiring colleague, a practice owner who values your full scope, or a network of like-minded professionals, having the right people around you can make all the difference.
For therapists to thrive, we need more structured mentorship, better-defined roles, and a shift towards therapy-led models where collaboration, autonomy and mutual respect are the norm. Coaching and mentoring programmes are invaluable resources, helping therapists build resilience, refine their skills, and find workplaces that truly support their growth.
As our profession continues to evolve, one thing remains clear: when therapists are empowered, patients benefit, teams can function more effectively, and dentistry as a whole moves forward.
Catch up with Cat’s previous columns:
- Dental therapy – love at first bite?
- A step-by-step strategy for becoming a therapy-led practice
- Dental therapists’ scope of practice: why it’s time for change
- Building partnerships between practice owners and therapists
- Are dental therapists going to save the NHS?
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