Dental Practices have a Duty of Care to their staff and visitors. As a consequence, Dental Practice Owners, Practitioners and Managers must have appropriate First Aid provision in place, from Appointed Persons, First Aiders to First Aid kit(s) and other Health and Safety provisions. From Reception to Therapy Staff to Dental Assistants, First Aid provision needs to encompass all areas.

In order to retain their registration PIN, Dentists must also undertake Annual First Aid refreshers, which might also include Immediate Life Support (ILS) certification.

As your Dental Practice has employees then you must also comply with the Health and Safety (First Aid) Regulations. For instance you may need to:

• Provide adequate and appropriate first aid equipment and facilities
• Provide a suitable number of qualified first aiders
• Appoint a person to take charge where first aiders are temporarily absent or the provision of first aiders is not necessary (due to the nature of the activities; the number of employees; and location)
• Inform employees and volunteers of the first aid provisions made – including the location of any equipment or facilities and the identity of the first aider(s) or appointed person(s).

To determine what is required, you must carry out a Dental Practice Risk Assessment and draw up an appropriate plan to provide this cover. There is some useful information on the Health and Safety Executive website:

https://www.hse.gov.uk/firstaid

If you own or manage a Dental Practice you should ensure that you have suitable provision in place, including sufficiently trained First Aiders across all departments. On this website you can find out more information about the requirements for those working in Dental Practices. If you want more information about First Aid training, do get in touch. Do also take a look at our selection of Online Training courses (not just First Aid, but Health and Safety, Fire and Food and Mental Health to name some others).

Which Dental Practice First Aid course should I choose?

Use the following guide to see which First Aid course is suitable for your Dental Business. Click the course title to find out more information about the course.

Click here to ask for a Training quotation for your Dental staff.

Emergency First Aid at Work, which covers the Workplace requirements, but doesn’t deal with looking after children & babies (shouldn’t be a problem as they should be there with an adult), nor does it cover medical events such as strokes (it does cover heart attacks). This is the most popular First Aid course for non-Clinical Staff.

First Aid at Work, which builds on Emergency First Aid at Work to include medical emergencies, bone and muscle injuries amongst other Medical issues. More suited to larger, or higher risk Practices.

Immediate Life Support – if you work with life-saving medications and/or medical gases such as Oxygen this qualification may be more appropriate as it covers those advanced skills. It may also be a requirement for clinical staff such as Dentists, dental nurses and hygienists.

Also worth considering…

Mental Health First Aid. Working at a Dental Practice is very customer facing and issues can arise from time to time. By providing Workplace Mental Health First Aiders, support can be available when required.

Contact us if you would like more information or a Quotation for Training for your Dental staff.

In general, most individual Dental Practices can probably be covered by Dental Staff taking the 1-day Emergency First Aid at Work course, unless Immediate Life Support qualifications are required for the Practitioners. Larger Practices or higher Risk Treatment Centres may wish to consider the 3-day First Aid at Work course.

When considering how many staff need training you must allow for staff leave and sickness – as well as the First Aider falling sick or injuring themselves. Also consider the size of the Practice, whether it is spread out, whether there are separate Treatment buildings or outbuildings and consider spreading First Aid skills across departments – Front of House, Dentists and Assistants for example.

Online Training – First Aid, Mental Health First Aid, Fire safety, Drug Management, Staff Management and Customer Service and more all available.

Don’t forget our wide range of online courses for Dental staff, too!