Whenever I interview a dental nurse about their career for BDJ Team, their feelings towards dental nursing are always overwhelming positive. New BADN President Hazel Coey, who started out in dental nursing part-time as a young mother in the 1980s, is no exception.

‘I would definitely recommend dental nursing as a career!’ says Hazel. ‘I have so enjoyed my work to date; working with people is at the top - my colleagues are such professional and lovely people. So many of them are close friends now. I have also enjoyed working in the dental surgery, schools, with health visitors, early learning teams, learning disability teams, hospitals, prisons, nursing homes...’

For Hazel, as with many inspirational dental care professionals who have featured in BDJ Team, dental nursing has been a stepping stone to a varied, rewarding and ever-changing career. Read about Hazel's career journey in this issue of BDJ Team.

While equally enthusiastic about dental nursing and dental practice management, interviewee Priya Sharma, who also appears in this issue, came to dentistry via a very different route. Priya originally took a university degree in sociology and pharmacy in Canada and worked in community and hospital pharmacy settings, before setting up in dentistry with her husband, a dentist, in the UK. ‘I absolutely love what I am doing,’ says Priya of her current roles.

What is your story within dentistry? I would love you to share it with our readers this year as we go forward with another ten jam-packed issues. This month we also look at what training your dental team needs in safeguarding children and adults; a medical emergencies focus on dealing with patients who suffer from asthma (with one free hour of verifiable CPD); research into how dental practices can facilitate access for the gypsy traveller community; and a clinical paper looking at oral manifestations of systemic disease. Happy reading, and Happy New Year!