Barcelona City Council | Capital humà

Dentists are responsible for improving population oral health. Thanks to their deep medical knowledge, they diagnose and treat patients with disorders of the teeth, gums, periodontal tissue, jaws or joints involved. These professionals can join a healthcare team and carry out coordinated multi-disciplinary actions with other healthcare professionals, such as oncologists and surgeons.

Fundamentally, dentists carry out population prevention and oral care, exercising the traditional role of these professionals. However, from the strict medical knowledge of the profession, they can also perform other functions, beyond direct attention to the person. For example, they can work as a dental visitor, promoting products from dental houses, providers of dental laboratories and clinics, as a research professor, generating knowledge within the academic and scientific field, or as a dental expert, advising as an expert in their field in legal matters. Within the expert work, the work derived from administration calls (any dentist can be called in the instructional phase or oral trial) must be distinguished from those who work for the private sector (usually in insurance companies).

• Draw up medical record and diagnostic tests, such as X-rays (periapical, occlusal, bitewing, panoramic) and study models.
• Diagnose oral and systematic diseases that affect the mouth.
• Design individual or collective prevention plans, including oral health education, prophylaxis, topical fluoride treatments, application of sealants on cracks and openings.
• Prescribing medication for the treatment of pain and infections.
• Administration of local anaesthesia, either to alleviate pain of perform treatments.
• Treatment and rehabilitation of the stomatognathic system making use of various materials for restoration, prosthetics, inlays, implants; pulp and periodontal treatments.
• Orthodontic and orthopaedic actions in order to diagnose and treat anomalies in the form, position and function of dentomaxillofacial structures.
• Dental extractions of varying degrees of complexity.

• Contact and visit clients in order to determine their needs. Manage the client base, both maintaining and expanding it.
• Promote the lines of products according to the company guidelines, presenting and offering advice about them.
• Oversee the sale process from beginning to end, accompanying manufacturers on product demonstrations or fairs.

• Identification, in individuals either dead or alive, of gender, age, race, blood group, profession, socio-economic position and geographic origin.
• Reconstruction of facts: bite marks, examining dental material, prostheses, large-scale disasters.
• Identification of dental injuries (occupational accidents and diseases, etc.): determination of causes, concurring causes, source of the injury, vital or post-mortem injuries and consequences of injuries.
• Assessment of bodily damage in patients, after a poorly performed dental treatment.
• Identification of cases where dental diseases and injuries are being feigned or concealed.

• Generate new forms of knowledge critically assimilating science and technology.
• Develop research skills and formulate solutions to professional issues relevant to the area of oral health.
• Publish research articles and participate in congresses in order to share knowledges with the scientific community.
• Establish research study plans and manage projects.
• Train professionals in the teaching field, develop knowledge, skills and the active participation of dental students.

Regulated training and graduates

• Grau: Odontologia
• Professionalism Certificate: Sales activities (Level 2)
• Professional Training Course(s) in the field of Trade and Marketing - Intermediate Level: Trade activities
• Professional Training Course(s) in the field of Health - Advanced Level: Oral Hygiene

Complementary training

It is not a requirement, but due to the wide scope of dentistry, it is highly recommended to do complementary training to improve specific knowledge. There is a wide range of training on offer in both public and private universities, as well as in professional associations and other training centres:

Masters, postgraduate courses and courses:

• Oral Medicine.
• Oral surgery.
• Implantology.
• Endodontics.
• Prosthesis.
• Pediatric dentistry.
• Periodontics.
• Orthodontics.
• Oral rehabilitation and occlusion.
• Dental aesthetics.
• Temporomandibular joint and occlusion

As a dental visitor, it is very valuable to have courses in sales techniques. Specific training on the product to be sold is carried out by the same supplier.

As a dental expert, it is advisable to take a master's or postgraduate course in legal and forensic dentistry.

It is also advisable to have comprehensive training, also through masters, in dental traumatology, dental prosthesis and dental surgery.

Other specific skills

Analytical thought: Level 3

Customer orientation: Level 2

Concern for order and quality: Level 2

Flexibility and change management: Level 2

Learning and use of knowledge: Level 2

Healthcare

Working to maintain and improve health, as well as physical and mental well-being, is the primary interest of people who are involved in the field of healthcare. Some of the activities in this field include making diagnoses, prescribing treatments and monitoring illnesses and injuries. These activities also include the application of therapeutic treatments (traditional or alternative) with a view to facilitating the physical recovery of those being treated. To carry out these activities, one must have in-depth knowledge of the human body and medicine, in its various specialisations.

Customer service

Direct and personal interaction with people and relating to the public are highly-motivating activities for individuals who have an interest in the field of customer service. A focus on people and on satisfying customers' needs is key in the occupations included in this field. These jobs entail the need to know suitable techniques for attending to the public and being able to give appropriate service that is tailored to their needs and expectations. Good examples are activities which offer assistance and guidance during functions, trips or at facilities, and those which provide advice in relation to products and services.

Legal

People who are interested in the legal field like occupations related to legislation and the law. This field of interest includes advising people and institutions in legal matters, representing them in judicial processes and managing the documentation and procedures necessary for these processes. Carrying out these activities entails the study and knowledge of legal regulations and matters in their various scopes of application.

Scientific research

Individuals who have an affinity for the field of scientific research focus their interest on activities that study different types of organisms and substances in order to obtain valuable products for human beings. A key part of performing this task is the planning and verification of scientific hypotheses through the use of different research designs and techniques. The objective of these searches is the development of new medicines and medical techniques, technological innovation based on the manipulation of cells, molecules and biological agents, as well as the study of cultures in order to improve the characteristics and properties of plants and food.

Physiotherapist

Conference assistant

Chiropodist

Nutrigenomic Adviser

Commercial agent

• Work hours

  Normally it is done on a split day. The dentist usually works in different clinics, alternating the split hours. Intensive days are becoming more and more frequent. When the dental clinic has an emergency service, the worker carries out his/her tasks in an unusual schedule, including any time and day of the week.
  In the case of working as a visitor, expert or researcher/teacher, the timetable will depend on the availability of the client, the clinics for which they work or the research/teaching hours for which they are contracted.

• Salary

  Salary range: between 20.035 and 37.045 euros annum gross. Median: 28.392 euros annum gross. When working as a dental visitor, part of the remuneration may be variable.
  
  Source: Report "Observatory of Jobs and Salaries of the Labour Market. Barcelona Activa", elaborated by ICSA Grupo. April 2015.

• Other features

  In order to practice dentistry, you must be licensed and have civil and criminal liability insurance.

• Human resources and equipment

  Human resources:

  • Dentist, stomatologist, or doctor specialising in maxillofacial surgery.
  • Auxiliary staff: dental hygienist and nurse.
  • Laboratory staff: dental prosthetist.
  • Clerical staff: receptionist, secretary/clerk.

  Material resources:

  • Technical dental care equipment.
  • Renting or purchasing premises.
  • Telephone line rental and internet connection.
  • Publication of website.

• Initial investments

  For a dentist who owns a dental clinic, the initial investment can start at 120,000; it could reach or exceed 300,000, depending on the location and infrastructure.
  In the case of self-employed dentists, there is no initial investment.