Our History
‘The Society’ is an organisation that has been established specifically with dental nurses in mind. We recognise that dental nurses, whether students or registrants, work across a variety of fields and within a number of dental settings. ‘The Society’ is a not-for-profit organisation.
‘The Society’ acknowledges the challenges that many dental nurses face in their day-to- day work and wants to encourage them to come together as a collective group and to share a voice. Through learning, application, experience and reflection, we believe that the dental nurses of today will be instrumental in driving the profession forwards.
Our Committee and members are focused individuals who believe that there needs to be support mechanisms in place for dental nurses. We recognise that dentistry itself is a fluid arena and with the advent of new and advanced procedures and technology, we believe that now is the time to influence our future.
The Committee is made up of a panel of subject experts, allied professionals, members of the trade industry and lay members. Close links have been established with key stakeholders and where possible links have been created to their websites.
Whilst we appreciate that Continual Professional Development (CPD) is key to all of our members, providing CPD is not our sole purpose. Whilst we will provide some free CPD on this website, we will also provide links to third parties who offer what we consider to be high quality CPD.
Student dental nurses are the dental nurses of our future. We need to support and encourage them and give them the guidance they need, both at the onset of their careers and in considering their future career pathway. They will benefit from a number of experts in the field who can give them direction and foster professional relationships and we believe that we can fulfil this role.
In 2015 the Society of British Dental Nurses was launched with the support of stakeholders. The Society came to fruition as the result of a demand for an educational approach and outlook to the profession and an ambition to embed education in co-designing the future of the profession. The Society was founded by a professionally recognised group of registered Dental Nurses; Fiona Ellwood, Donna Hough, Patricia Rawsthorne, Heidi Cresswell, Susan Ellis, Anne Jones, Emma Riley, Rachel Jones
From this expert group of dental nurses the first board was identified and the Articles of Association was identified with legal support, along with the core values and purpose. Accountants were also appointed.
Also in 2015 the first regional group was formed, chaired by Louise Smith (East Midlands Region), later followed by Scotland regional group chaired by Alex Keir.
In 2016 the (Hon) Fellows Board was introduced and very quickly was made up of 6 influential individuals: Mr Andrew Baldwin, Dr Janine Brooks, Prof. Ireland, Dr Richard Leigh Evans, Prof. Andrew Smith and Elaine Tilling. The Fellows Board was intended to give high level expert opinion and guidance on a broad range of matters at all levels and on strategic direction of the Society, future proofing its plans and ambitions.
2016 National Dental Nurses Day and award was introduced – 22nd November 2016 and also the Prof. Ireland Annual lecture in September.
2017 Louise Smith joined the Committee, as did Clare Faulkner, in 2019 Louise was elected to Vice President and Clare Vice Chair. Year on year the Society goes from strength to strength, with strong connections and relationships fostered across the profession, across all dental arenas and nations. The Council, Committee and Ambassadors attend and contribute to stakeholder meetings and in 2019 the Society joined forces with the Dental Professional Alliance (DPA). The DPA is formed of other DCP Presidents/Chairs and provides a platform and opportunity to work together. In 2019 Fiona Ellwood the Patron of the Society was elected President and Emma Riley as Chair. Fiona Ellwood also received a Queen’s Birthday honour medal.
In 2020 – the pandemic hit and changed dentistry as we knew it. Prof. Avijit Banerjee joined the Fellows Board, Consultant Mili Doshi became Patron and a new student representative Natalie Bates joined. 2020 marked a key landmark as the Society became 5yrs old. As part of the Dental Professional Alliance group we became part of the Mental Health & Wellbeing Strategy with Fiona Ellwood our President leading it with the support of immediate Past President BDA Roz McMullan leading the way across all four Nations and key stakeholder engagement.