Life as a young dentist

What is life like when you start your first 'real' job as a dentist? James Foster, who graduated from Birmingham University Dental School in 2022, shares his experience of life as a young dentist.

I currently work at a practice in Shrewsbury. It’s a practice owned by the same person who owned the practice I did my Foundation year in, which is a mixed practice.

He liked the feedback he was getting from some of the staff I was working with. So, he offered me a part-time job at the Shrewsbury practice. Initially, I worked there for three days and found a job at an NHS practice in Stafford for the other two days.

The practice in Shrewsbury is mostly private with a bit of NHS for children and exempt patients, versus the practice in Stafford that was predominately NHS.

I worked at both practices for about six months, but I found I wasn't enjoying life in the Stafford practice as much as I was in the Shrewsbury one. One of the other dentists in the Shrewsbury practice left and I was lucky enough to be offered a full-time role there.

The atmosphere at my practice is very relaxed and friendly. All the nurses there are great. Even though I don't work with the same nurse every single day, they've always got my day list sorted out. They have everything I’ll need in the surgery set up, and they get all my lab work out.

The fact they do all this means I can walk into surgery 10 minutes before the patients do, quickly scanning my list to see if there are any new patients or patients that need special attention. I can read their history and check for any medical conditions that might affect treatment.

Having a great team

The fact the nurses set everything up for me means I have a calm start to the day, rather than running around looking for lab work and so on. If I need to flag anything, I just do that with the practice manager, or ask my nurse to call the lab if necessary.

I can then get on with seeing my morning patients before we have lunch. Everyone has lunch together. We all sit down and chat about the day, or about some patients that are interesting or the ones we've got coming in later. Then, I do my afternoon session.

I do feel I’m lucky to be working in this practice as the team is so supportive. The reception team is absolutely great too. They're very good at handling things and letting us get on with doing our job.

If they need to try and slot someone in, they'll come and ask us first, not just put in the appointment so that it comes as a surprise. If I need to ask them to call the lab or chase up a referral there’s never a problem. They're just very helpful. Which makes life so much easier for me.

Growing in confidence

A few months down the line, I feel a lot more confident than I did when I first started my Foundation year. I think most people would agree it’s nerve-wracking at first. It's the first time ever that you are the least supervised and looked after than you've ever been.

Up until then, you will have taken patient information, presented it to the clinician, and they would have told you what you needed to do. So, you would go back, do what was instructed, and have it checked four or five times before you finish.

In practice, unless you ask for help, nobody comes in to see any of your patients – and that's the way it should be. You should be building the confidence to do it yourself. But the very first few times you do it, it's terrifying.

Plans for the future

I’m doing a lot of general dentistry at the moment, but I like cosmetic dentistry too. I've carried out some composite veneers and a few composite replacements for amalgams, and I enjoyed it.

My practice does a lot of Invisalign work as well, which is great as orthodontics is something that's interested me since dental school. So that's kind of the direction I'm looking at for the moment.

If you would like to hear more from James and other peers, head over to our YouTube channel to see what starting work is like, how to manage your finances and how to take care of your wellbeing.