apprentice dental nurse Review
at Dental Design Studio
Level 3 Apprenticeship
Healthcare
Leighton Buzzard
Review Submitted: April 2026
Overall Rating
5 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
5/5
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Overview of Role
5/5
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Skills Development
5/5
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Structure and Support
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis:
5/5
My role as an apprentice dental nurse is to support either the dentist or the hygienist. What this involves on a day to day basis is coming early in the morning to set up for the day, in the morning I will be doing things such as flushing the water lines and setting up trays for the first patients as well as other things, between patients I have to disinfect everything that has been used to prevent cross infection and I also take instruments that have been used to decon so they can be sterilised and put through the autoclave to also prevent cross infection and make sure each patient has clean instruments, at the end of the day I will take any used instruments to decon to be sterilised, disinfect everything, flush the water lines again and run orotol through the suctions, there is a lot more that is done aswell but that is just a brief amount of tasks that are completed.
To what extent do you enjoy your programme?
5/5
I really do enjoy my programme, before I began my programme I was very unsure on what career path I wanted to go into but after starting the programme it made me realise what I actually enjoy doing and what sector I enjoy which is dentistry. The reason I really enjoy my programme is because it’s a very hands on job which I prefer a lot more than sitting at a desk and I get to interact with people throughout the day which is something I do enjoy. I also get to work and learn at the same time which is something i find very important, while i’m working i’m always learning something new and it’s easier for me to learn something while being very hands on. I do also really enjoy my programme because the people I work with around me are very supportive and helpful in helping me understand new things and make the environment such a positive place for me to work and learn in.
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills or developed existing skills?
5/5
I believe I did develop some new skills and develop some existing skills as well. Existing skills I developed on was things such as communication, I have always found it quite easy to communicate with those around me but I feel while being on the programme it made me more confident in talking to people and made me be able to do it more naturally. I have learnt a lot of new skills as well , I learnt the importance of preventing cross infection and how to properly disinfect and sterilise instruments to prevent this happening, I also learnt how to work under pressure and how to go about it, I was never too great under pressure and when I was under pressure I did used to just get stressed out and quit on what I was doing, but I feel now i’ve learnt the skill in how to properly go about being under pressure and that’s just to be efficient in what i’m doing and take my time to know its done correctly but also to not be too slow.
Structure and Support
How well organised/structured is your programme?
5/5
it’s very well structured, i have dedicated days and time slots to which i have teams meetings tomorrow discuss my programme and to complete work, i also received the rota for the next week on a friday to see exactly where i am and who i will be working with the next week.
How much support do you receive from your employer?
5/5
I receive a lot of support from my employer, i am given support in learning new things such as qualified dental nurses showing me how to do certain things and how to do them correctly, i’m also given time to be able to shadow others with certain procedures so i can see how to correctly do them myself. I’m also given feedback on things i do wether it’s things i need to improve on or feedback to tell me i’ve done something correctly.
How much support do you receive from your training provider when working towards your qualifications?
5/5
I receive a lot of support from my training provider while working towards my qualification, i am given access to an online portfolio platform called bud which helps me upload evidence of my work. They also host group teams meetings that runs through certain topics and protocols and every few weeks I have one on one sessions with a tutor to help me in this process.
How well do you feel that your qualification (through your training provider) helps you to perform better in your role?
5/5
I believe my qualification helps me perform better in my role very well because i’m not just passing instruments to the dentist or hygienist i’m also learning what they’re called and exactly what they’re for and i’m not just told to disinfect the area after each patient im informed why this is important and the importance of cross infection. I’m not only just knowing what to do but i’m being told why this needs to be done and how to correctly to do it and this helps widen my knowledge and understanding.
Are there extra-curricular activities to get involved in at your work? (For example, any social activities, sports teams, or even professional networking events.)
5/5
Not that I am aware of just yet
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Dental Design Studio to a friend?
Yes
Why?
I would recommend the practise to a friend because they’re very patient, supportive and understanding. They don’t expect you to know everything immediately or be able to pick it up immediately they’re very patient in helping me understand everything and very supportive in doing so. The teamwork within the practise is amazing, they’re very welcoming and everyone helps each other wether that’s just helping with taking someone else’s instruments to be sterilised or helping someone else shut down for the day, they’re very supportive with helping me learn new things and making sure i have the correct understanding and they don’t treat as just the trainee they do treat me like I am apart of the team. The practise is also very well run and organised with everyone knowing exactly what they need to do before the day starts and everything being stocked up for the week ahead which makes it a less stressful environment and a more positive one.
What tips or advice would you give to others applying to Dental Design Studio?
Tips i would give to someone applying to work at the Dental Design Studio is don’t be afraid to ask why, working in dentistry can be very busy at times but the team will always make time to answer any questions you have and will make sure that you have got the exact answer you was looking for. Another tip I would give is to make sure you do things in advance, me personally if i look at the day list and see there is a lot of patients for the day I like to set up the first few trays in advance just to lower the stress and to be prepared this can also leads into sterilising instruments, advice i would give for sterilising instruments would be to count how many you have in total and see how many patients you have for the day, and any free time you have use that to sterilise the instruments because it will make you feel less stressed because you know you have spare instruments if you need them incase there’s an extra patient for the day or incase you accidentally drop a certain instrument and that needs to be sterilised you have back up to replace it with.
