Dental Division
Message from our Director of Dentistry
NHS Dumfries and Galloway Public Dental Services and our community of General Dental Services, welcome you to our page dedicate to finding out more about working or training in Dentistry in our region.
NHS Dumfries and Galloway covers the region of South West Scotland and is one of 14 territorial Health Boards. The region offers beautiful countryside, from rugged cliffs and sandy beaches to forests, hills and rolling plains. There is a wide range of activities on offer, with water sports, fishing, golf, mountain biking or cycling. House prices are low, schools are good and you are within 2 hours of Edinburgh, Glasgow, Lake District and Newcastle.
As a board we run 3 Public Dental Service clinics and support 29 dental practices offering NHS Dental Care across the region that jointly service a population of approx. 150,000.
We also have an excellent reputation for teaching dental and dental therapy students in our state of the art dental centre and newly built district hospital and have developed a successful Outreach training programme that practitioners and students partake in.
With a national shortage of Dentists and Dental Officers across the UK, you may ask yourself why choose Dumfries and Galloway to live, work and play. Our answer would be to contact us or come and visit us, talk to some of our amazing staff who have already joined us from out of the area and learn for yourself as to why D&G is the region for you.
As an added incentive, we offer Dentists and Dental Officers a Retention & Recruitment allowance of up to £25,000 for successful candidates depending on meeting criteria. You can find out more here. On top of this we can also offer as a remote and rural region, the Remote Areas Allowance which is up to £9,000 per individual should conditions be met. You can find out more here.
Candidates relocating from out of the region into Public Dental Service posts may also be eligible for relocation expenses of up to £8000
We love to meet prospective candidates and learn more about how and what they would do to enhance NHS dental care to the local population so please do get in touch with our primary care team to discuss options across our services.
Thank you for taking the time to find out more and we hope to meet you soon
Alison Milne
Please select from our services below for more information
Public Dental Services
The Public Dental Services, mainly located in Dumfries with two smaller clinics in Sanquhar and Galloway Community Hospital, comprise of the following services
- Emergency Care
- Special Care,
- Outreach programme
- Dental Therapy
- Prison Dental Services
- General Anaesthetic Services
- Oral Health Improvement Programmes (separate Team scroll down to read more)
The team consists of a team of dental nurses, eight dental officers, one dental therapist and six dental tutors. Our dental officers have a mix of portfolio careers with some also working in general dental practices.
Our state of the art dental centre, which is surrounded by beautiful parks and landscape also houses our dental training centre for final year dental undergraduate students as well as therapy students who join us for their entire training course.
Dental nurses and dental officers rotate around the different public services which not only gives diversity to the roles but gives our team a holistic view of what is happening in our communities which can better drive the direction of the service based on need.
Emergency and Special Care Services
Our Special Care Department provides dental care for those patients who are unable to receive treatment with the General Dental Service. The department offer sedation and has specialist equipment to allow this cohort of patients to be treated within the dental centre.
We offer emergency dental treatment to registered Specialist Care patients and unregistered patients, these patients are triaged via our dental helpline staff and appointed to an appropriate clinic.
Key Features of the team
- We are passionate about developing our teams to ensure they have the skills to work across the range of services
- Many of our dental nurses are trained in IVV and Inhalation sedation
- Some of our dental nurses are trained in Radiography which supports the work load of our dental officers
- If required, our teams may provide treatment in patients own homes.
- We have a great team structure and team working across the region
- All our teams receive Personal Development Plans and appraisals
- We encourage and have great team nights out
- All our services not only support our dental students and core trainees but also work closely with secondary schools to inspire them into careers in Dental services
- Teams are able to use pool cars for travel and all sites have free and plenty of parking
Outreach programme
The Outreach experience allows students who have already attained basic competence in a range of areas to gain additional expereince treating patients in a practice setting. The outreach programme sees a range of patients and the aim of the programme is to aid transition from the dental school to the practice environment by replicating the primary care experience as closely as possible.
Oral Health Improvement Team
The Oral Health Improvement Service is based in Dumfries, Castle Douglas and Stranraer and consists of one Service Manager, Admin Support, NDIP co-ordinator, a Child Smile Dental Nurse and six Dental Health Officers. Our team attracts staff from a range of backgrounds with a keen interest in educating and inspiring adults and children on oral health issues.
Our teams are encouraged to research the latest health concerns and we educate each other through national and local meetings, always striving to deliver the best service to our community.
The Service delivers the following programmes:
- National Dental Inspection Programme (NDIP)
- Child Smile
- Local and national programmes to meet the needs of our community such as:
- Open Wide – A programme aimed at individuals with Learning disabilities
- Carling for Smiles – delivered in Care Homes
- Smile4life – delivered to anyone suffering from homelessness.
- Moth Matters – Prisons
- Oral Health posters/leaflet production
- Fluoride Varnish twice a year to targeted schools
- The team also attends sports groups, baby groups, breastfeeding groups or any community group where oral is wanting or can be discussed.
National Dental Inspection Programme
Our team of dental health officers and dental nurse actively take part in this national programme, run annually, to check the overall oral health of primary one and primary seven students. The data collected helps national teams and Scottish Government look at trends to drive new educational programmes.
Child Smile Programme
Child Smile is a Scottish Government funded programme that covers
- Oral health instruction
- Engaging with all age of children
- Visiting schools and nurseries with tooth brushing techniques. Mainly aimed at nursery and primary ones. Teams provide equipment and support for schools to deliver. Observations and follow ups
- Support for those who go for GA as part of teeth out including follow ups. This can include supporting in hospital.
- Receive referrals from health visitors and other health professionals
- Support
- Acclimatisation clinic for children and adults for those who have a phobia of dentists
- Can be delivered in home, school or clinic setting
“I’ve always loved dentistry. The programmes we deliver gives a huge sense of satisfaction as we get to support a wide range of groups and see our young people learn to better help themselves in later life. It feels like every day is a learning day in this role.”
Oral Health Team Manager
Key Features of the teams
- We are passionate about developing our teams to ensure they have the skills to work across the range of services
- We have really close working relationships with the schools and our services are well known and respected in the region, due to us delivering a consistently high standard of service
- We invest in new equipment such as 3D scanners, orthopantomogram (OPT) machine and intraoral x ray machines
- Our dental nurses are trained in IVV and Inhalation sedation
- Our dental nurses are also trained in Radiography which supports the work load of our dental officers
- We have a great team structure and team working across the region
- All our teams receive Personal Development Plans and appraisals
- We encourage and have great team nights out
- All our services not only support our dental students and core trainees but also work closely with secondary schools to inspire them into careers in Dental services
- Pool cars are available for travel and all sites have plenty of free parking
- We try to discourage overtime as we believe strongly in work life balance for our teams
Oral and Maxillofacial Department
The OFMS and Orthodontics unit is based at Dumfries Royal Infirmary (DGRI) out main acute hospital in the D&G region. The unit is quite a small unit consisting of two consultants, two associate specialists and team of dental nurse and support roles. The service takes referrals from the medical professionals, General Dental and Public Dental services.
The service covers:
- General outpatient clinics for orthodontics and OMFS
- Combined weekly clinics in head and neck cancer
- elective surgery
There is a strong presence of multidisciplinary working with other teams and services and our dental nurses across our OMFS and PDS services have been trained in radiography and GA which gives more flexibility in the service.
Key Features of the teams
- Small but friendly team
- DGRI has free parking
- The Service runs 9am - 5pm
General Dental Services
NHS Dumfries and Galloway Health board work closely with over 25 General Dental practices and one Orthodontics practice across our region. Of the GDP’s 4 offer orthodontic services and all offer some NHS services.
Our practices range from small rural to larger corporate body services and feedback from our dental colleagues is that they all have real sense of community that matches that of our communities across the region.
Recognising there are shortages of dental professionals across the globe, colleagues in D&G work collaboratively to look at solutions and new ways of working to support and grow our services. We welcome new ideas and many of our practices have already started investing in the latest technologies that ensure our dental professionals can work without stress and meet local demand.
If you can’t decide on which is for you please feel free to contact us using the contact form.
Annandale & Eskdale Region
Practice runs from two locations in Lockerbie DG11 2BX and DG11 2EU
Practice provides NHS and private treatment as well as Orthodontic Services
Lochmaben – DG11 1NH
Family ran Dental services offering NHS and private treatments
Practice runs from two locations in Annan – DG12 6DS and DG12 6AA
Practice provides NHS and private treatment.
Supports Dental Vocational Training (DVT)
Lockerbie – DG11 2BX
Practice provides NHS Services and Orthodontic Services
Supports Dental Vocational Training (DVT)
Moffat – DG10 9DN
Beautifully located practice in the Heart of Moffat, offering NHS and private treatments
Supports Dental Vocational Training (DVT)
Gretna – DG16 5AQ
Practice offers NHS, private treatments and provides oral Surgery, orthodontics and Prosthodontics services
Dumfries and Upper Nithsdale
Dumfries Town Centre – DG1 2BL
Provide treatment for private and NHS referrals.
Dumfries – DG2 9DE
Provides NHS and Private treatments.
Dumfries – DG1 1DE
An award winning practice providing NHS and private treatment.
Dumfries – DG1 1DU
Practice provides private treatments only
Dumfries – DG1 1DL
Part of Scottish Dental Care with clinics across Scotland offering NHS and Private treatments
Dumfries Town Centre- DG1 2PA
Practice offers NHS, private treatments.
Supports Dental Vocational Training (DVT)
This Practice holds a licence to sponsor skilled workers
Dumfries Town Centre – DG1 2PL
Provide treatment for private and NHS referrals.
Dumfries – DG3 5LJ
An award winning practice providing NHS and private treatment.
This Practice holds a licence to sponsor skilled workers
Dumfries – DG1 2RS
Provide treatment for private and NHS referrals.
This Practice holds a licence to sponsor skilled workers
Dumfries – DG1 1BU
Small independent practice offering NHS and private treatment
Dumfries – DG1 1DR
Part of the Real Good Dental Company with clinics across Scotland offering NHS and Private treatments
This Practice holds a licence to sponsor skilled workers
Dumfries -DG1 1BA
Practice offers NHS and private treatments.
Stewartry
Castle Douglas – DG7 1DE
Practice offering NHS and private treatment
Dalbeattie -DG5 4DW
Practice offers NHS and Private treatments
Supports Dental Vocational Training (DVT)
Kirkcudbright – DG6 4DZ
Practice offers NHS and private treatments.
Wigtownshire
Newton Stewart – DG8 6EX
Provide NHS and private treatments
Stranraer – DG9 7JF
Practice offers NHS and Private treatments
Stranraer – DG9 7EN
Practice provides NHS and private treatment.
Lochview Practice
Stranraer – DG9 7AB
Practice offering NHS and private treatment
Dental Training
No matter what stage training you are at, our dental services across the region welcome you and hope that your positive expereince will be one you share with others so we can continue to grow our workforce and continue supporting future generations. In general our feedback across the different levels of training has consistently been good to excellent and we are seen as friendly and supportive with many of our dental teams really enjoying the opportunity to inspire, support and educate our future workforce.
KEY REASONS TO TRAIN IN D&G
- Students receive free accommodation
- Supportive teams
- small enough departments that colleagues learn your name and you become one of the team
- Enthusiastic, approachable and well respected tutors
Dental Students
NHS Dumfries and Galloway welcomes every year, dental students from the University of Glasgow, Dental School. Students join us in their 5th year for their outreach placement on site in our purpose built training centre based in the Dental Centre, Dumfries.
Feedback from students has been consistently good about their clinical placement with us being recognised as small but friendly, with a really relaxed and supportive learning environment and with great tutors and facilities.
Dental Therapy Students
Our dental therapy students join us for 3 years and are enrolled with the University of Highlands and Islands. Our students are supported by 4 dental therapy tutors and like our outreach placements we receive excellent feedback.
All our students we encourage to partake in school engagement events to help promote dentistry as a career in the region.
Students can find out more about accommodation in the area by visiting our page dedicated to accommodation.
Dental Vocational Trainees
Dental Vocational Training is organised nation wide by National Education for Scotland (NES). As a west of Scotland region, Dumfries and Galloway hosts DVT’s in our general dental services and public dental services whilst they complete study days at the Glasgow Dental Education Centre next to the dental school and hospital.
“I loved my time in Dumfries. The tutors are great and made the learning environment really fun”
Core Dental Trainees
NHS Dumfries and Galloway welcomes Dental Core trainees from one to four in rotational and non rotational posts across our OMFS and Public Dental Services.
Trainees on placement in OMFS will receive good exposure to minor oral surgery and some orthodontics. The OMFS team are keen for trainees to be involved in the workings of the unit and put a lot of emphasis on practical expereince and learning.
Orthodontics is taught at a level of a “dentist with an interest”
DCT’s are not included in the out of hours on call rota in OMFS or PDS