DCPs must complete 150 hours of CPD every five years. There is a wide range of activities that fall under CPD, but at least 50 hours in the five year cycle must be verifiable by our standards. Verifiable CPD does not have to mean big expensive courses. One way to fulfil your CPD requirements is to gather with colleagues. As well as drawing on the expertise of course leaders you’ll meet new people and learn from their experiences, and build networks for support.

Dental nurses Amanda Feest and Susan Field capitalise on their experiences in CPD by using their skills to help others. They organise and deliver internal and external training, peer review and professional group meetings for the 33 DCPs at West Sussex Community Personal Dental Services, where they work, and for colleagues in the area. They have successfully overseen dental nurses training for the NEBDN Certificate in Oral Health Education and deliver verifiable training for DCPs with sessions on infection prevention and control and communication skills. They are concentrating on personal development planning and radiation protection in 2009, keeping their courses fresh and relevant by rotating subjects quarterly.

The courses provide clear aims and objectives and are developed to meet individual needs, being taught through demonstrations, practical exercises, group tasks and discussion and presentations. With the income generated from teaching, Amanda and Susan have improved their training facilities with new PCs and an interactive whiteboard, and have expanded their training library. Amanda is committed to CPD for both professional and personal growth, and told us:

"Running the DCP training centre has encouraged us to expand our own knowledge and skills and has fostered invaluable relationships. The role of dental nurses has evolved enormously since we both started work, and with extended duties upon us, we truly believe that dental nursing is an excellent and rewarding career. We hope that our own development is reflecting this."

Registered clinical dental technician Phil Tucker has taken a different route to CPD by combining it with vocational training at Kent, Surrey and Sussex Postgraduate Deanery. The 11 month course involved lectures on risk assessment, team working, home care visits and history taking. Phil used online webinars and e-learning to revise the decision making process for providing complete dentures and medical issues for elderly patients, as well as learning more about oral cancer. Final assessment focused on anonymised patient records, a personal development plan and skills assessment in team working, and awarded Phil 12 hours of verifiable CPD. He said: "We all do a lot of training to get our original qualifications, but we need to bear in mind that technology, methods and information moves on quickly. We need to keep up to date to reassure our patients – and to stay competitive."