2. Additional skills, prescriptions and supervision

Core versus additional

Some tasks sit in the core of a title. Others are additional skills that need extra training and, often, a record of competence. The current GDC Scope of Practice is the list to check — not this lesson, which will go out of date. Open the live document when you add a skill.

Prescription and direction

Some work by hygienists, therapists and nurses is done to a dentist’s prescription or under a defined arrangement. Know whether the task needs a written plan, a radiograph report, or the dentist on the premises. “The principal said it was fine last year” is not a prescription.

Direct versus indirect

If a protocol says a dentist must be on site, they must be on site. If it says they must be contactable, know how. Do not start a procedure that needs backup when the only dentist is in theatre at the hospital with no cover.

Locums and new staff

A locum hygienist’s scope is theirs, not the practice logo’s. Ask what they are indemnified and trained to do before the first patient. Show them the emergency kit and the radiograph local rules. Do not assume they “do implants” because the last locum did.

Students and trainees

Trainees work under named supervision. They are not spare pairs of hands for unsupervised extractions or unsupervised radiography. If you are the supervisor, you own the act.