The dentist studies the patient's past history of dental care and examines the mouth and teeth, sometimes using X-rays, to detect gum disease or tooth decay. Typical routine treatment includes:
- extracting decayed or septic teeth
- drilling, preparing and filling cavities
- scaling and polishing teeth
- advising on oral hygiene
The dentist may treat irregular teeth by fitting appliances such as braces or may replace teeth by fitting crowns, bridges or dentures. Sometimes they carry out surgery on diseased gums and infected roots to help preserve teeth. Newly qualified dentists entering general practice usually begin their career as an associate in a group practice, where they can receive support from more experienced colleagues.
Dentists in the community dental service are responsible for the treatment of priority groups such as young children, expectant mothers and adults with physical or mental impairments. They work in local clinics and may travel to locations such as schools, day centres and residential homes to carry out inspections and advise on dental health education.
Some dentists work in the dental department of general hospitals. Newly qualified dentists begin their career as house officers and progress through the grades of house officer, registrar, senior registrar and assistant dental surgeon to consultant status. During this period, they combine work with study for one of the dental specialisms, which involves taking further examinations.
There are two recognised specialties in Ireland:
- Oral surgery
- Orthodontics
Oral surgeons work mainly in hospitals and universities. Dentists specialising in oral and maxillo-facial surgery treat injuries to the face or serious diseases of the teeth and gums.
Dentists specialising in orthodontics treat the more complex cases of crooked or missing teeth, fitting appliances to correct these and advising dentists in general practice.
Most orthodontists work in private practice, although some work in hospitals, universities and the Public Dental Service. To become a specialist, two years of general professional training must be undergone after primary qualification, and this is followed by three years of fulltime specialist training. To become a consultant may involve a further three years of higher training.
The training takes place in university teaching hospitals in Ireland, or other such recognised training establishments, often in the UK or other EU countries. Trainees generally provide dental care during their training and are normally paid as appropriate. On completion of training as a specialist you normally receive a Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training in orthodontics or oral surgery, issued by the Dental Council, and are entered onto the appropriate Specialist Register.
You may also receive a diploma from one of the Royal Colleges of Ireland or the UK, such as a “Fellowship” or “Membership”, or a master’s degree or PhD from a university. Aside from the two recognised specialties, there are other traditional specialist areas of dentistry such as paediatric dentistry, periodontology, and endodontics, where practitioners have undertaken further training and have limited their practices to their specialty.
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