Melanie Joyce, a dental therapist from Leeds, has created an initiative called DentalTherapistsRock! aimed at explaining to the public what a dental therapist is and what they can do.

In November Ms Joyce launched a website, www.dentaltherapistsrock.co.uk, which has already had hundreds of hits as a result of her efforts creating a following via social media and attending the British Society of Dental Hygiene and Therapy's (BSDHT's) annual conference in Liverpool.

‘I wanted to set up this initiative as dental therapists are still not widely known or understood by the public,’ said Ms Joyce. ‘When you search on the Internet for information on what a dental therapist is, most of the available information includes quite a lot of jargon and I feel is more for people who are considering dental therapy as a career.’ She hopes that dental professionals will direct patients to the website and that other dental therapists will spread the word about DentalTherapistsRock! to show their support.

Ms Joyce qualified as a dental therapist in 2010 after six years as a dental nurse and currently works in the community dental service in Bradford and in a mixed general practice in Leeds. She is also the North East Representative for the British Association of Dental Therapists (BADT), to whom she went for feedback prior to launching the website.

To sign up to DentalTherapistsRock! and access free downloads and resources, visit www.dentaltherapistsrock.co.uk.