Sir, I am a dental therapist working in a busy Dental Access Centre. It was with despair that I received a questionnaire from a student therapist asking how many 'simple' fillings I complete in a day's work. While I acknowledge that the word 'simple' has been used in various documentation, I feel this one word has caused many members of the dental team to wrongly presume that therapists only carry out small occlusal restorations, and serves to perpetuate the myth that therapists only treat children.

The current situation is that therapists may carry out exactly the same cavity preparation and restoration, on exactly the same teeth, on exactly the same patients as a dental surgeon. What therapists may not undertake on these teeth are onlays, inlays, root canal treatments and the placement of amalgam retention pins (not that this would be a disadvantage to a therapist when there are good amalgam bonding agents available that negate the need to use pins).

A typical day sees me completing a variety of large multi-surfaced resin bonded amalgams on posterior teeth, and extensive composite restorations of carious/broken down anterior teeth, mainly on adult patients who have been unable to access dental care for a variety of reasons. In addition to this I carry out the full range of a therapist's duties which includes taking radiographs, administering block and infiltration local anaesthesia, extracting deciduous teeth etc.

A dental therapist does not need a dental surgeon on the premises while they are working; they must, however, have a written treatment plan for each patient that has been referred to them by a dental surgeon.

Dental therapists have been around for 45 years now; it is time for the dental profession to have a full understanding of what therapists may do, and appreciate what a valuable, highly skilled, and economical member of the team they can be.