Dental Chairside Surgeries, also known as dental assistants, chair-side assistants, or dental nurses (non-operative), are one of the most common and long-established members of the dental team.
Their role evolved in the nineteenth century as chaperone and housekeeper, but as dentistry changed in nature during the twentieth century to become more technical, involving the use of the water-cooled air turbines for cutting dental cavities, four-handed dentistry (whereby the chair-side assistant works physically alongside the dentist) became more common. With the highly technical forms of dentistry practiced today, and the challenges of contemporary infection control, the role of the dental nurse is increasingly complex and an important feature of good clinical practice.
Training of dental surgery assistants has long been undertaken through apprenticeship, supported by courses and evening classes. In most countries training and registration has not been mandatory and therefore workforce numbers are unknown, but this is showing signs of change. Furthermore, there are now opportunities for professional development as dental surgery assistants with expanded functions.