The organisation for orthodontic therapists and nurses celebrates its 25th anniversary in 2019 - Chair and orthodontic therapist Sally Dye looks back - and forward.

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When the Orthodontic National Group was established 25 years ago it was by a group of dental nurses working in the orthodontic specialty who saw the need for a representative body. With foresight, they identified that an authoritative voice was needed to navigate the changes that lay ahead for dental care professionals working in orthodontics.

One of those changes was the creation of the title of Orthodontic Therapist, with which we were closely involved. The introduction of this group of registrants has been transformative. Our close association with the British Orthodontic Society helped greatly and meant we were abreast of key issues relating to all aspects of orthodontics.

Apprenticeships

More recently, the concept of apprenticeships have been introduced by the Skills for Health Organisation regarding training for Orthodontic Therapists. The proposal is for government funding to be available for training centres to cover the cost of the OT training - which as those who have been through the process, will appreciate is extremely expensive.

It must be understood that an apprenticeship is a style of learning, it is not a qualification. It can therefore be applied to all manner of careers which includes orthodontic therapy. In fact orthodontic therapy lends itself perfectly to apprenticeship - because it simply means learning while you are working..!

The qualification remains a diploma in orthodontic therapy. The training and curriculum will be unchanged. ONG is very supportive of education and welcomes all opportunities for people to gain access to achieve further qualifications.

We are true to our mission statement which declares that 'we are passionate about orthodontics, and provide a platform for education and valuable information to propel the work of orthodontic nurses and therapists throughout the UK'.

We provide two full days of lectures during the annual British Orthodontic Conference and a further annual spring study day. Our membership fee includes two ONG journals per year, access to BOS News and Clinical Effectiveness Bulletins, on-line CPD provided by Pro-Dental and reduced registration fees for study days and conference. We have good working links with RCS Ed, GDC, BADN, NEBDN to name a few and are well acquainted with several of the orthodontic therapist training centres.

The committee meet regularly and work tirelessly, and for free, to ensure that our members are well informed of current working regulations and have access to relevant training and CPD. At full capacity our committee is 10 personnel, a mix of nurses and therapists.

For more information and to download our membership form see our website www.orthodontic-ong.org or our Facebook page or email: ONG911@outlook.com.