Dental Technology

Learning Programme Content

The Learning Programme provision shall comprise of three mandatory elements:

• Qualifications,
• Essential Skills
• On/off the job training

The total minimum credit value required for the Level 5 Pathway (Dental Technology) is 240 credits.

Entry requirements

There are no specific qualifications required for entry to this apprenticeship framework. 

However, higher education institutions and training providers may have entry requirements for studying the combined qualifications listed in the framework. Potential Apprentices will need to demonstrate that they can meet the academic requirements for the programme of study. 

Apprentices should: 

• Show enthusiasm for working in the health sector. 

• Be caring and compassionate. 

• Have literacy, numeracy and communication skills on which the apprenticeship will build. 

• Have a suitable level of physical fitness to perform some aspects of the job roles. 

• Be flexible, as there may be a requirement to work shifts.

It is an offence for employers to knowingly employ people barred from undertaking healthcare activities. Employers can contact the Disclosure and Barring Service to ensure they are not doing so by asking for an enhanced disclosure and barred list check. Apprentices on this framework may be subject to these checks. Individual health sector employers may have additional employment entry requirements, e.g. a current driving licence would also be an advantage (and may be necessary for some roles).

In addition, dental technicians joining the GDC register must declare criminal convictions, which may prevent them from registering, and apprentices should be informed of this before entering the apprenticeship.

Initial Assessment  

Training providers and employers will use initial assessment to identify prior learning and experience so that they can tailor the Apprentice’s Individual Learning Plan only. This initial assessment will not be used to screen out applicants. Employers will use a separate interview or application process to assess an individual’s suitability for employment in the health sector. Recruitment for this apprenticeship will focus on the applicant's ability to demonstrate the right values and behaviours for the role, including commitment, compassion, and care, as well as the ability to meet the study requirements of the framework itself. This may include situational judgment testing. 

As soon as they join the Higher-Level Apprenticeship, all apprentices must be entered into Apprenticeship Certification Wales.

See also individual entry conditions for each level within the pathway. 

Level 5

Entry requirements for this pathway, in addition to the framework entry requirements: 

• Have one A-level or equivalent

• Be employed as a trainee in a dental laboratory

Applicants may have already achieved a range of qualifications, eg:

• Key Skills, Functional/Essential Skills, or equivalent GCSEs. 

• Advanced Level Apprenticeship. 

• GCE A Levels, usually including a science. 

• Welsh Baccalaureate (at this time, there is no credit transfer) 

• Welsh Baccalaureate with Principal Learning (at this time, there is no credit transfer)

• Degree in other subject areas

• Dental Nursing qualifications

Applicants to this Apprenticeship will be from different age groups and have differing backgrounds and experience. While direct entry to the framework is possible, it is very likely that applicants will have undertaken an Advanced Apprenticeship in a healthcare occupation or have comparable experience and/or qualifications. 

Applicants may enter via a range of routes, provided they have also secured employment in a suitable job role, including from: 

• Previous work in healthcare, including Dental Nursing

• College

• Training and/or experience, which may include a portfolio showing what they have done.

Employers look for health sector apprentices who are: 

• Caring 

• Compassionate 

• Committed

• Conscientious 

• Discreet 

• Respectful 

• Personable

Employers also expect apprentices to: 

• Communicate effectively with service users and work colleagues.

• Be able to work in a team. 

• Carry out their duties meticulously

   

Apprenticeship pathway learning programme(s)

Level 5: Dental Technology

Level 5: Dental Technology Qualifications

Participants must achieve the following combined qualification below:

Please see Annex1 for the relationship between the competence and knowledge units within the combined qualification.

Essential Skills Wales (ESW)

Essential Skills Wales qualifications assessment languages are English-Welsh and all Essential Skills should be contextualised to the dental sector. 

On/Off the Job training

On the job training is defined as skills, knowledge and competence gained within normal work duties. 

On-the-job training comprises: Level 5 Foundation Degree in Dental Technology (FdSC)

On the job training needs to:

• achieve clear and specific outcomes which contribute directly to the successful achievement of the framework, and this may include accredited and non-accredited elements of the framework

• be planned, reviewed and evaluated jointly between the apprentice and a tutor, teacher mentor or manager 

• allow access as and when required by the apprentice either to a tutor, teacher, mentor or manager 

• be delivered during contracted working hours 

• be delivered through one or more of the following methods: individual and group teaching; e-learning; coaching; mentoring; feedback and assessment; collaborative/networked learning with peers 

• be formally recorded, either in a diary, workbook, portfolio, or be verified by attendance records. This evidence needs to be checked and signed by the assessor and employer. 

These records of hours may need to be submitted to the Certifying Authority when applying for an apprenticeship completion certificate.

Evidence to support the application for an apprenticeship completion certificate for on-the-job training will include a copy of the qualification certificate detailing the units completed.

Off-the-job learning will comprise: 

Level 2 Essential Skills Wales in Communication 

Level 2 Essential Skills Wales in Application of Number

Level 2 Digital Literacy 

 Off-the-job training undertaken before the apprentice started their apprenticeship may count towards the off-the-job training required for the apprenticeship if it was undertaken in relation to an accredited qualification contained in the framework for which a completion certificate is to be applied for. 

Evidence to support the application for an apprenticeship completion certificate for off-the-job training will include a copy of the qualification certificate for each of the above qualifications detailing the units completed. 

It is expected that: 

• On-the-job and off-the-job training hours are both planned, reviewed and evaluated jointly between the apprentice and a tutor, or teacher; their workplace supervisor or manager and, where relevant, the apprentice’s coach or mentor. 

• On-the-job and off-the-job training support via either a tutor, teacher, mentor or manager is made available when required by the apprentice. 

On-the-job and off-the-job training hours are delivered through one or more of the following methods: individual and group teaching; e-learning; distance learning; coaching; mentoring; feedback & assessment; collaborative/networked learning with peers; guided study. 

On/Off the Job Qualification details (Minimum Credit & Hours)

The total number of credits the apprentice must attain for this pathway is 240 credits.

It is anticipated that an average learner will take 36 months to complete the apprenticeship.

On/Off the Job Essential Skills details (Minimum Credit & Hours)

• 6 credits/60 GLH Level 2 Essential Skills Wales Communication
• 6 credits/60 GLH Level 2 Essential Skills Wales Application of Number
• 6 credits/60 GLH Level 2 Essential Skills Wales Digital Literacy

Other additional requirements

For apprentices who have already achieved the relevant qualifications, they must have been certificated within 5 years from the date of application for the apprenticeship certificate or the apprentice must have been continuously employed in the industry for 2 years.

Job roles

Dental Technician

Dental technicians are essential members of the dental team who, upon prescription from a clinician, design and manufacture custom-made dental devices, prostheses and appliances. They create dentures (false teeth), crowns, bridges, orthodontic retainers, and other dental devices using copies of patients' mouths following instructions from a dentist or doctor. When appropriately trained and supervised, they may assist in some clinical procedures within their scope of practice. Dental technicians may repair dentures for members of the public directly without a prescription. 

Dental technicians require comprehensive knowledge of dental materials, anatomy and physiology, and manufacturing techniques to ensure they make the most appropriate devices with high precision to meet patients' needs.

Dental technicians are skilled at working with materials such as plastics, metals and ceramics. They use digital technologies such as computer-aided design and manufacture to 3D print or mill dental devices. They use copies of the patient's teeth and gums generated using an impression (mould) or digital oral scan to make a plaster cast or digital model to design and manufacture dental devices. 

Dental technicians are expected to display behaviours aligned with the standards of conduct, performance, and ethics that govern all dental professionals. They self-manage, adapt, and respond to situations using insight and reflection. They work as part of a multidisciplinary team or independently without close supervision as the situation requires.

Once qualified and experienced, dental technicians develop professionally in:

• Orthodontics. 

• Fixed Prosthodontics (also called crown and bridge technology). 

• Removable Prosthodontics.

A dental technician needs: 

• The manual dexterity to use their hands skilfully in detailed work.

• The ability to use a range of hand and power tools.

• IT literacy sufficient to manipulate computer-aided design software.

• Patience, concentration and attention to detail.

• Artistic ability and imagination to apply problem-solving techniques.

• The ability to self-manage, adapt, and respond to challenging situations. 

• To utilise insight and reflection to benefit their professional development.

Progression

Level 5

Progression routes into the Apprenticeship:

See Entry Requirements

Progression from the Apprenticeship:

Upon completion, apprentices who complete this Apprenticeship pathway can register as Dental technicians with the General Dental Council. 

• BSC Dental Technology

• MSC Advanced Practitioner

Upon completion of either of these two further qualifications it may be possible to progress to routes which include Clinical Dental Technicians and Reconstructive Scientists. 

Further detailed information and advice on careers within the health sector can be found at http://www.wales.nhs.uk/

Equality and diversity

It is important that apprenticeship Pathways are inclusive and can demonstrate an active approach to identifying and removing barriers to entry and progression. Pathways should advance equality of opportunity between persons who share protected characteristics and those persons who do not as identified in the Equality Act 2010.

The Protected characteristics identified in the Equality Act are age, disability, gender reassignment, race, religion or belief, sex, sexual orientation. Marriage and civil partnership is also included although only in respect of the requirement to eliminate discrimination in employment.

Training providers and employers MUST also comply with the other duty under the Equality Act 2010 to ensure that applicants are not discriminated against in terms of entry to the industry based upon those nine protected characteristics.

SThere is a gender imbalance within the health sector, which is a predominantly female workforce. All jobs are open to both males and females and are advertised accordingly. Male role models are positively promoted through marketing materials, photos and case studies. However, a perception that certain job roles are for women remains and this may discourage some males from applying to work in these job roles. 

Local apprenticeship programmes may be designed by employers to encourage a higher number of male applicants into these roles and into the workforce as a whole.  For all health apprenticeships local recruitment is encouraged to reflect the local community.

It is equally important that we must increase the numbers of Welsh speakers in healthcare and improve access to services through the medium of Welsh. This will meet the Government expectation of More than Just Words and the Active Offer where people are offered and can receive their support through the medium of Welsh if they want to. 

Apprentices undertaking this pathway may also be adult learners who may have been away from education for a considerable period of time.  It is therefore important that the education/training provider delivering this pathway has support systems in place to maximise learners’ potential and to ensure that their educational needs are met by developing a personalised learning programme.  Healthcare apprentices undertaking this pathway must be made aware of all the learner support services available to them

There should be open recruitment of apprentices to the programme, which is available to all people, regardless of gender, ethnic origin, religion/belief, sexual orientation or disability who meet the stated selection criteria. Employers/providers must be able to demonstrate that there are no overt or covert discriminatory practices in selection and employment. 

All promotional, selection and training activities must comply with the following relevant legislation such as: 

The Equality Act 2010 

The Welsh Language Act 1993 

The Care Standards Act 2000 

Data Protection Act 1998 

Employment Right Act 1996 

Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 

Human Rights Act 1998 

Public Interest Disclosure Act 1998 (Whistle Blowing Charter) 

Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974-1986 

Amendment Sexual Discrimination Act 1976 

Additional Learning Needs and Education Tribunal (Wales) Act 2018

It is recommended that employers/providers conduct an exit interview if the apprentice leaves the programme before completion. During the learner’s exit interview, it is recommended that information on learners leaving the programme before completion is identified and used to support the learner and develop the provision where necessary

Employment responsibilities and rights

Employment Responsibilities and Rights (ERR) is no longer compulsory.  However, it is recommended that all apprentices (especially those in the 16- to 18-year group) receive a company induction programme.

Responsibilities

It is the responsibility of the Training Provider and Employer to ensure that the requirements of the pathway are delivered in accordance with the Welsh Government/Medr Apprenticeships Guidance.

Further information may be obtained from: Medr

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