Careers: sedation and GA trained dental nurse

Community Dental Services CIC (CDS) is an employeeowned social enterprise and a referral only dental service, providing community dental care and oral health improvement across much of the East of England and the East Midlands.CDS brings dental care to people who cannot easily be treated in general dental practice; patients typically have learning disabilities, mental health issues or severe anxiety.CDS provides care under conscious sedation (oral sedation, intranasal sedation, inhalation sedation and intravenous sedation), as this supports many patients to tolerate treatment in clinic that would otherwise have resulted in them being referred for a more invasive general anaesthetic (GA) in hospital.Where GA is the best option for the patient, CDS dental nurses work alongside hospital teams in theatre.Here we are given an insight through the eyes of Julie Wilkinson, a CDS Senior Dental Nurse, who has worked in special care dentistry for 32 years and who specialises in supporting patients through both sedation and general anaesthesia.