Orthodontics and Dental
  2. Home
  3. Medical Consultants
  4. Orthodontics and Dental

Orthodontics/Dental

Consultant orthodontists are specialists in orthodontics who undergo higher training.

Their clinical work focuses on the management of complex cases such as severe skeletal discrepancy, congenital facial abnormality, multidisciplinary problems and special needs. The HSE consultant orthodontist manages the HSE orthodontic service including waiting lists, human resources, budgeting, and procurement. Consultant orthodontists together with their academic colleagues are involved in training specialist orthodontists, undergraduate dental students, dental house officers and orthodontic therapists.

Key areas of practice:

  1. Consultant advice: Providing opinions/second opinions to the community dental service, specialist orthodontic practitioners and with other hospital clinicians including consultants in oral and maxillofacial surgery, restorative dentistry, paediatrics, plastic and ENT surgery
  2. Treatment within a hospital or primary care orthodontic department. They generally treat those patients that are severe and complex with a high need for treatment
  3. Multi-disciplinary treatments:

    Consultant orthodontists

    1. Treat in conjunction with consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeons and oral surgeons problems of impacted, ectopic and malformed teeth and the effects of trauma and pathology in the dento-alveolar structures in the child and young adult.
    2. Treat in conjunction with consultant oral and maxillofacial surgeons severe skeletal discrepancies by means of orthognathic surgery.
    3. Treat in conjunction with consultants and specialists in restorative dentistry and general practitioners those problems requiring a combined approach particularly those associated with developmentally missing teeth (hypodontia).
    4. Treatment in conjunction with consultant paediatricians and consultants in paediatric dentistry those children with special needs, growth related problems, underlying medical conditions who also have a malocclusion.
    5. In conjunction with the other key specialties provide co-ordinated care for patients with cleft lip and palate and other craniofacial anomalies
  4. Education and training:

    To provide education and clinical training for future specialists, orthodontic therapists, career junior staff, undergraduates and trainee academics. To participate in continuing professional education programmes for all trained providers of orthodontic care.

  5. Management:

    To be involved in staff recruitment, job planning, training, rotas, contracts, etc. To liaise with management about waiting lists and targets. To submit business cases for resources and plan future departmental development. To provide leadership and direction.

  6. Research and audit:

    To take an active role in clinical governance including clinical audit, incident reporting, review of complaints and risk management. To be involved in research and service improvement projects