The Society of British Dental Nurses yet again recognises a number of dental nurses for their exceptional work and contribution to the profession.

This event coincided with 70 years of the NHS, 75 years of NEBDN and 100 years of women in dentistry.

Last year, the Society identified three categories of exceptional dental nurses: Student dental nurse, dental nurse and dental nurse tutor, this year further categories were added to those with: dental nurse manager, contribution to charity and long service.

The Society had an amazing response and some very difficult decisions to make.

The judging panel did, however, unanimously reach their decisions. A short narrative of the winners is included. The results were as follows:

Outstanding Dental Nurse 2018

Winner:Rhona Hutchinson: Rhona is based at NHS Lothian and has worked there for many years as a dental nurse, a sedation dental nurse and as the head CBT therapist interest.

Runner Up: Monika Hobdell

Highly commended: Stephanie Kennedy, Lisa Goarke and Christine Franklin

Long Service 2018

Winner: Jane Bellamy: Jane not only served the profession for many many years, but has unbroken service history and never a cross word spoken.

Runner Up: Linda Davidson

Highly commended: Angela Shawcroft and Dawn Astill

Contribution to charity

Gina Goddard: Gina has given her time to Dental Mavericks and been out to Morocco and the Lebanon on a number of occasions and spends much of her time raising awareness and funds and she is currently waiting to hear if she has a place in the London Marathon to raise more funds.

Runner Up: Leane Bick

Highly commended: Liliy Rees

Outstanding dental nurse manager

Winner: Natasha Young: Natasha has been a long-standing member of the team at Guy’s and St Thomas with a focus on sedation and special care as the department sister. She has also worked alongside the haemophilia clinics and is highly regarded for her work.

Runner Up: Louise Simpson

Highly commended: Natalie Arnold

Outstanding Dental Nurse Tutor

Winner: Kathleen Wilson: Kate has an exceptional background in teaching, training, assessing and moderating and has been instrumental in the running of the NEBDN examinations in her area and is currently involved in the delivery of the BSc. Her central focus and sense of achievement comes from the students’ successes.

Runner up: Laverne Appleton

Highly commended: Melissa Deschamps and Alicja Kwaitkowska

Outstanding dental nurse students

Winner: Charlotte Reeve: Charlotte is clearly very well thought of by many and meets adversity head on, despite numerous challenges and set backs she is a shining star. She is first there in the morning and is a real team player and describes dental nursing as her ‘dream job’.

Runners up: Kate Stobbs and Leah Lambert

Highly commended: Tammy Cooper

The Society wants to say a huge thank you to everyone for raising the profile of this event on National Dental Nurses Day and hopes to have even more entries next year.

Fiona Ellwood said: ‘This has to be about the dental nurses themselves – a time to shine and celebrate our profession.’

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