2 minute read
KEEP SMILING
Christina Chatfield, director of Dental Health Spa in Brighton, encourages people to think of a career in an underappreciated profession
In the current climate of job losses, it’s unusual to hear of a business taking on new staff – especially when that business is recruiting from what may seem unrelated and unlikely sources.
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But for Christina Chatfield, who runs Dental Health Spa in Brighton, having passionate people with skills across a range of areas is important to ensure patients get the right sort of care, especially when many find the area of dental health intimidating.
Recently three of the dental nurses that have trained at her spa moved on to new jobs, which left her with vacancies for apprenticeships.
Christina herself started out in the profession on a Youth Training Scheme in the 1980s and has given opportunities over the years to many people who may not have considered a career in the profession, and was keen to tap into the current available workforce.
“You need to have a calling inside you. It’s a very rewarding career if you have those people skills and I would encourage people to look at it”
“If I advertised on indeed.com I would be inundated,” she said. “I’m so fed up with CV senders who are just wanting a job. As a health profession we are working with people who have all sorts of healthcare needs. I wanted to see people that have real passion and appreciate the opportunity to learn. From dental nursing you can go on to practice management, orthodontics, being a hygienist or therapist.”
Since losing her three nurses she has taken on four apprentices who lost their jobs in very different areas: one from BA, one from a media organisation, one from a travel company and one from retail, all actively wanting a dental career than merely a job to tide them over.
But she explains that it’s important to have the people skills, the ‘soft’ skills. “Most people have the academic ability to learn anything, but you can’t teach those soft skills. You need to have a calling inside you. It’s a very rewarding career if you have those people skills and I would encourage people to look at it.”
While dental nursing is an area that has been dominated by women, more and more men are now coming in at nursing and hygiene levels.
She says the dental apprenticeship scheme is not widely known about. While there are classroom-based courses, much of the training is done on the job and the pay is good – it’s not just an excuse to have cheap labour.
Christina also wants to encourage patients to talk more openly to their dental professionals about their fears. The current restrictions mean many are not having regular checkups so problems are being overlooked – the most obvious being oral cancers. But she says patients should be encouraged to talk about the Covid issue too, explaining that many dental healthcare professionals have been trained in testing and are an underutilised workforce in that respect.
“People should talk about the virus a little bit more. We will never persuade the anti-vaxxers of course, but we should be able to talk quite openly to those who are sitting on the fence a bit. If people are unsure they really can ask their dentists or dental healthcare professional.”
