Natalie Dowling explains how the Dentsply Sirona Academy, London, is playing a significant role in bringing education to the heart of UK dentistry
The Dentsply Sirona Academy exists to address the continuing educational needs of all dental professionals, and provides unrivalled access to evidence-based, scientifically sound, theoretical and practical content.
Worldwide, the Dentsply Sirona Academy educates around 350,000 dental professionals every year on an extensive range of clinical, technical and practice excellence programmes. Using facilities that provide more than 11,000 courses annually, the Dentsply Sirona Academy operates in more than 80 countries.
Recognising the need for a high-quality, dedicated training facility in the UK, the Dentsply Sirona Academy, London, opened its doors in June 2017.
This multi-use facility, housed within Dentsply Sirona’s UK headquarters in Weybridge, is designed to showcase products and equipment in a clinical setting and facilitate customer training.
It also provides a key UK base for Dentsply Sirona’s extensive in-house clinical and technical education programmes that enable clinicians, technicians, hygienists and nurses to not only learn about how an integrated digital solution can improve their workflow, but to also experience it for themselves.
Education, coordination
Before becoming the academy operations coordinator, I trained and worked as a dental nurse and treatment coordinator.
My dental background has stood me in good stead for this role; it makes life much easier when you’re able to understand exactly what the courses are about.
I have thoroughly enjoyed my journey from the clinical to the industry side of dentistry. I’ve seen the past 12 months as a move from ‘the users to the innovators’. There’s always so much more to learn, especially with the big changes in the world of digital dentistry that Dentsply Sirona are such a significant part of, and that makes my role so interesting.
At the heart
The state-of-the-art clinical skills suite is at the heart of the Dentsply Sirona Academy, London, and a specially designed educational space featuring an eight-station simulation clinic complete with phantom heads. The training opportunities to work on phantom heads are rare in the UK and most are found only in dental schools and teaching hospitals.
The academy is also used to demonstrate the latest products and equipment in a clinical setting across specific disciplines including restorative dentistry, dental implants, endodontics and orthodontics.
The courses held at the academy are proving to be a big success, welcoming more than 550 dental professionals in the first 12 months of operation alone, including third-party groups such as Simplyhealth, Bupa and Alliance Dental Care, with another 26 courses planned for the second half of 2018.
Led by world-renowned clinicians and technicians using Dentsply Sirona equipment and materials, the courses are designed to cover a range of disciplines with particular emphasis on the growing importance of digitisation in dentistry, and Cerec in particular.
We work closely with dental technicians and managing directors of the Academy of Digital Dentistry. Lino Adolf who runs training courses specifically designed for new Cerec customers. The feedback from delegates has been fantastic, and with this we are continuously developing the course to keep up with software and material advances.
The academy facilities have been given five stars for accessibility and organisation by 95% of the attendees, which is a great honour for everyone involved in the running of the academy, as well as for myself.
The model of the future
Continuing education underpins Dentsply Sirona’s global philosophy and the Dentsply Sirona Academy, London, is a living, tangible example of putting that philosophy into practice. It is the embodiment of Dentsply Sirona’s commitment to education, providing a venue in which dental professionals can learn how to provide better, safer, faster dental care to all their patients.
For more information visit www.dentsplysirona.com/academylondon. To find out more about the range of Dentsply Sirona solutions, materials and equipment, visit www.dentsplysirona.com or call 01932 853 422.
