On a frosty Tuesday evening in January, Dr Sadie Karia presented a fascinating talk to the members of Young Alpha Omega UK.
Dr David Selouk kindly opened his surgery on Harley Street to host the event and supplied some lovely refreshments for the hardworking dentists and students at the end of a working day!
Sadie is one of our Young Alpha Omega members, who, since graduating in 2021 from the University of Bristol, has completed her Dental Foundation year in North West London, DCT 1 in Paediatric Dentistry at Newcastle Dental Hospital, and is currently undertaking her DCT 2 in OMFS at University Hospital Crosshouse, a District General Hospital (DGH) outside Glasgow. Her DCT 2 post is a split post, meaning she will transfer to Glasgow Dental Hospital to work in the Restorative Department in March 2024.
Sadie guided us through her career journey thus far, and what she has learnt along the way. She covered:
· What is Dental Core Training?
· Why do DCT?
· Should I relocate for DCT?
· DCT in Paediatric Dentistry
· DCT in Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery
· Where Paeds and OMFS meets: Paediatric Dental Trauma Revision
She started her presentation by defining what Dental Core Training is – an opportunity to continue training post Dental Foundation year, and to work across both different clinical settings and dental specialties.
Sadie explained the application process and directed those interested to the Health Education England DCT web page. She then began to explain her own journey.
She was not afraid to say that she had been hoping to remain in London for her DCT 1, but despite ranking well at National Recruitment did not manage to secure a job in the area, and instead was offered a job in Paediatric Dentistry in Newcastle (she jokingly recounted that when she read ‘North East’, she initially assumed she had secured a job in North East London, not Newcastle!).
However, she soon fell in love with the city and spoke enthusiastically of the beauty of the North East, being only a twenty-minute journey from the beach, and cheaper living, as well as singing the praises of Health Education England North East (HEENE). Sadie nearly persuaded us all to move to Newcastle!
Being unsure at the time of whether she wanted to pursue further training (and if so in what specialty), or return to practice as a GDP, Sadie found it very beneficial that a DCT in Paediatrics allowed her to engage in training in a variety of areas, including complex endodontics, extractions on anxious patients and copious practice placing composite fillings. She recounted gaining a greater understanding of treating patients with conditions such as Molar Incisor Hypomineralisation, Amelogenesis Imperfecta and Dentinogenisis Imperfecta, and treating children with complex medical conditions; for example, Sadie treated a child with sickle cell anaemia under the care of the neighbouring Royal Victoria Infirmary. She also described learning new treatments, such as placing composite tips with a preformed cellulose matrix, performing microabrasion and ICON treatment.
Overall, Sadie expressed how rewarding she found this job and that she would recommend training in Paediatric Dentistry and/or in Newcastle to any of our Young Alpha Omega Members!
Sadie then moved on to describe her OMFS job at University Hospital Crosshouse based in Ayrshire, which she commutes to from central Glasgow. She enthused about her newfound love of Scotland and shared stories of travelling to Loch Lomond, the Trossachs and Dundee.
Working under the esteemed NHS Education Scotland (NES), while enjoying the surrounding natural beauty and a cheaper cost of living again made relocating sound like a very attractive option! Sadie described gaining a deeper understanding of treating patients with complex medical histories, harnessing her surgical extraction skills, and gaining experience suturing both intraorally and extraorally.
An OMFS department in a DGH consists of both head & neck Cancer and trauma referrals as well as dentoalveolar and oral medicine referrals. Sadie related some of the surgeries she has assisted with for patients under GA, including bimaxillary osteotomies and ORIF treatment to repair mandibular fractures.
She expressed that the most critical skill she has learnt is the ability to identify when a dental abscess can no longer be treated by oral antibiotics, and requires referral to OMFS and admission for prescription of IV antibiotics and incision and drainage under GA.
Alongside the technical skills she has gained from her DCT 2 in OMFS, Sadie professed that the high stress environment she often finds herself in, working night shifts and weekends as the OMFS first on-call, has shaped her into a far more confident and independent practitioner.
Sadie acknowledged that a DCT in OMFS can be challenging but was clear in expressing that it has been instrumental to her development as a well-rounded clinician and that she could not recommend it enough to her audience, as well as a move to Glasgow, of course!
Sadie concluded her presentation by returning to its title question: Where Paeds Meets Max Fax? The answer: Paediatric dental trauma. She covered key issues that are likely to be considered exclusively in cases of Paediatric dental trauma, such as parental responsibility and Gillick Competence then went on to examine safeguarding concerns when considering paediatric or adult trauma of any kind. Sadie then systematically explored hard tissue injuries, PDL involved injuries and avulsion, referring to the IADT 2020 guidelines.
Sadie wrapped up her talk with her top tips for DCT, which included being flexible, making the most of the opportunity and taking a chance training in a specialty not previously considered!
Note from Dr Spencer: This excellent presentation was warmly received by the attendees and in fact several of the committee members who were present expressed their desire to volunteer for DCT again… it all seemed incredibly fascinating and useful especially in the wide ranging experience on offer and being able to work with so many specialists and to learn to apply all the learned skills in a practical environment.
Thank you Sadie!
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