Treatment Planning

Study guide

Unit 6 is the chairside unit: the materials, instruments and procedures a dental nurse supports, and the nurse’s own role during each of them.

Local anaesthesia

The largest sub-topic in the unit, covering the drugs, the equipment and the techniques.

• Know the difference between infiltration and block techniques and where each is used.
• Cartridges, needles and the syringe assembly each have handling and safety implications — sharps management is part of the technique, not separate from it.
• Vasoconstrictors prolong anaesthesia and reduce bleeding, which is why some patients’ medical histories matter here.

Cavities and restorative materials

Classification, preparation and the material choice that follows. Material properties are the most testable part.

• Cavity classification describes which surfaces are involved, and drives the preparation and restoration.
• Linings protect the pulp and are chosen according to remaining dentine thickness and the restorative material above.
• Amalgam, composite, glass ionomer and the rest differ in strength, aesthetics, adhesion and handling — questions usually test the trade-off rather than the name.
• Moisture control is not optional for adhesive materials; the nurse’s role in isolation and aspiration directly determines the outcome.

Impressions and prosthodontics

From recording the mouth accurately to replacing what is missing, fixed or removable.

• Impression materials differ in accuracy, setting behaviour and how they must be handled and disinfected before leaving the surgery.
• Distortion and drag are handling faults with identifiable causes.
• Fixed prosthodontics replaces teeth in a way the patient cannot remove; removable prosthodontics does the opposite, with different hygiene and review implications.

Anxiety control and extractions

The unit closes with the more invasive end of treatment, and with what happens afterwards.

• Behavioural management, sedation and general anaesthesia sit on a scale of increasing intervention, each with its own consent, monitoring and escort implications.
• Extraction is indicated when a tooth cannot be restored or retained safely — the indication matters as much as the technique.
• Post-operative instructions and the recognition of complications such as prolonged bleeding or a dry socket are routinely tested.

In the exam Material properties and the nurse’s specific role are the two threads running through this unit. If a question describes a procedure, ask yourself what the nurse is doing at that moment — that is usually what is being examined.