Dental Hygienist

As a Dental Hygienist in the Royal Navy you’ll be an integral part of a professional Dental Centre, working from a shore side establishment in the UK, or in challenging conditions on board one of our Ships at sea. This could be on an assault ship or state-of-the-art Aircraft carrier in a fully fitted dental surgery, or on board a frigate or Type 45 destroyer, utilising a portable dental unit in the medical centre. 

You’ll work as part of the dental team, under the guidance of the Senior Dental Officer. Your role will be to deliver effective military oral health care and advice to personnel from the Surface Fleet, Submarines, Fleet Air Arm and Royal Marines to ensure that they remain operationally deployable.

• Providing dental hygiene care within your scope of practice
• Helping patients maintain their oral health by preventing and treating periodontal disease
• Educating patients and promoting good oral health practices
• Providing preventative care and advice to patients
• Organising and participating in unit health fairs and national oral health campaigns
• Delivering oral health presentations to new entry recruits and officer cadets (in training establishments)
  
   

• A salary of at least £42,000 after initial training
• Great pay and promotion prospects as your careers progresses
• Incremental pay rises within each rank
• An excellent pension scheme
• Six weeks of paid holiday every year
• Free medical and dental care
• Sports and adventurous training
• Continuous Professional Development
• Up to £6000 towards continued education
• ‘Forces Help to Buy’ house purchase scheme

Qualifications you'll gain

• Funding opportunities to continue personnel development and professional education
• Gain specialist vocational qualifications as your career progresses
• Leadership and management skills

Skills you'll develop

• The discipline and organisational skills needed to be part of a professional dental practice
• Experience dealing with patients from all backgrounds

• You’ll need to be aged between 21 to 39 (You can start your application from 15 years and 9 months old however you must be at least 21 years old on day of entry to basic training)  
• You will need one of the following: Diploma or BSc in Dental Hygiene, Diploma or BSc in Dental Therapy, Diploma or BSc in Dental Hygiene and Therapy, BSc in Oral health Science (Hygiene and Therapy)
• You can apply to join whilst still studying, but you will need to be qualified and registered with the General Dental Council before you start basic training
• If already qualified, you must be registered with the General Dental Council and provide evidence of Continuing Professional Development 
• You must be a British or Irish national, a Commonwealth citizen, or a Dual National 
• A Body Mass Index (BMI) between 18 and 28 (between 17 and 27 if under 18) 

• A passion for helping people
• Great team players who thrive on working with others
• Enthusiasm for working in highly challenging environments
• A real sense of adventure