EST 1995

Our Story

Dental Nurse Training was founded in 1995 by Peter Howard-Williams who co-owned a dental practice in Exeter, Devon. He delivered the then named National Certificate in Dental Nursing working alongside the NEBDN.

The centre has gone from strength to strength but always continuing with the same ethos Peter created.

We have a wealth of experience in delivering quality training leading to a consistently high pass rate well above the national average. Our learning platform is constantly updated to ensure our students have access to the most up to date lectures and revision materials including free access to our extensive question bank.

Quality training with an exceptional pass rate

We’ve trained well over 1000 nurses and counting, both for the Diploma and postgraduate courses. We are a family run training centre that delivers consistently high results. We offer a mix of online and tutor based NEBDN training.

We provide clear course prices with no hidden costs. Our prices include free access to all our revision materials, written MCQ & EMCQ question banks in addition to an online mock OSCE for the Diploma in Dental Nursing.

Our Team

Erica Clatworthy

Director & Tutor

I qualified as a dental nurse in 1996 with this very centre that I am now lucky enough to own and run with my husband. I loved nursing but my dream was always to be the person carrying out the treatment and giving advice to patients. I didn’t want to become a Dentist. It was the role of a Dental Hygienist that really appealed to me. I was awarded a place at Bristol Dental University and went on to qualify as a hygienist in 2004.

I began work at Pinhoe Dental Centre as a hygienist as soon as I qualified. Peter Howard-Williams the previous owner of Pinhoe Dental Centre and the training centre, encouraged me to teach all the oral health aspects of the syllabus to the trainee dental nurses. I was very nervous because in 2006 there would be 40+ trainee dental nurses on each course and the lectures were held in a tiered lecture theatre.

I’m an NEBDN examiner, I tutor the Diploma, topical fluoride, and OHE courses, as well as look after the administration for the centre, Quality Assurance and all director responsibilities.

I’ve recently completed the Certificate in Assessing Vocational Achievement & Level 4 in Internal Quality Assurance of Assessment Processes and Practices.

We love this business, mostly because there is no better reward than to get to know your students and to help nurture them through a course to see them pass and go on to achieve what they set out to do. I am always as nervous as my students on their exam day and as elated as them when they pass.

Angela Lee

Radiography Tutor

My name is Angela Lee. I have been a qualified dental nurse since 1999 and I gained my radiography qualification in 2015.

I have always had a passion to learn and to pass my knowledge onto others so I decided to move away from general dental practice in 2014. I joined Peninsula dental school as a dental nurse assisting the undergraduate dental and hygiene therapy students. I enjoy this role and find it rewarding helping the students and see them improve in confidence.

I then became acting radiation protection supervisor RPS until I was formally assessed and given the title of the facilities Radiation Safety Lead for Exeter in 2018.

Becoming the Radiation Safety Lead has given me the opportunity to expand my knowledge and skills both practically and with the safety aspects of dental radiography. It was at that time I realised that I would like to teach in this area, I feel I can make a difficult and often boring part of dentistry easier and more fun to understand. I managed to find a course for teaching that would fit around my home life and I completed my level 3 award in education and teaching in February 2021

Outside of work I love spending time with my husband Simon and daughter Ruby. We love to travel whether it be a trip to Disneyworld in Florida or camping in Dorset. We have a dog called Molly and two tortoises called Chewbacca and Harry.

Angela currently holds 100% pass rate for the Radiography course. All students have also passed first time.

Zoe Peters

Diploma Tutor & Internal QA

I started my career in a small Dental Practice in 1979. I have worked in a vast range of Dental Nursing roles including 15 years in oral surgery.
Over the years I continued with my professional development and qualified in the Radiography and Oral Health post registration courses.
I studied for my Certificate in education and became a full time tutor and assessor for the NVQ Level 3. I am also an NEBDN examiner with years of experience.

Over the last twelve years I have combined working part time in prison dentistry with running my own Dental Nurse Training centres in Dorset and Somerset.

Following COVID-19 I have decided to wind down from my own business so I was delighted to be asked to work with Dental Nurse Training as Internal Quality Assurance auditor, although I still fulfill my role as the post certificate IQA I am also now the centre’s Diploma tutor. I locum part time as a Dental Nurse as this is another element to the career that I love, being clinical helps me to stay current with all aspects of training.

Outside of work me and my husband Trevor like to travel abroad, as often as we can!

Sarah Dalton

Radiography Tutor

Qualifying as a Dental Nurse in 2001, I have gained many year’s experience working within the Dental industry in both NHS & Private practices. I have assisted with General, Endodontic, Orthodontic, Implant, Cosmetic, and more recently, Forensic Dentistry.

I spent a few years Locum nursing throughout the Westcountry which introduced me to Peninsula Dental School in 2010. Here I supported 1st, 2nd and final-year Dental Students

Working with students and within the education setting gave me a real boost and a new lease of interest in dentistry, so when a permanent vacancy came up I jumped at the opportunity.

In 2015 I became the Deputy Clinic Team Lead at Peninsula in Exeter. During my time with Peninsula, I have used my knowledge, skills and experience to support the live clinics and training of Third and Fifth year Dental Students, Third year Dental Therapy students and Trainee Dental Nurses.

Adam Clatworthy

IT Support & Course Development

Before joining the training centre in 2008 I worked as an IT consultant with over 25 years experience in the development and support of both Unix and Windows-based IT systems.

Initially, I provided a platform for Dental Nurse Training to offer bespoke learning content for its NEBDN accredited courses to complement the face-to-face teaching provided by its experienced tutors.

The website assisted students to get access to additional course materials and learning assessments. Our website has continued to grow and is now a well-established NEBDN accredited learning platform for the delivery of Diploma based learning and postgraduate certification for dental nurses.

In October 2019 we acquired and registered Dental Nurse Training as a limited company. We are proud to have been a part of the business for many years and continue to develop and grow our online presence. As an established nationwide training centre, we are passionate about the service we provide and have trained upwards of 1200 students…(and counting)

I continue to work in IT Support working within the NHS whilst supporting our learning platform and developing our learning content.

Emily Bremner

Diploma Tutor

I started my career as a Dental Nurse in 2019 and completed the NEBDN Diploma in Dental Nursing with Dental Nurse Training ltd.  The course and my training along with my day to day nursing is what ignited my passion for all things dentistry. I passed my written and OSCE exams first time and qualified in 2020 in the middle of the pandemic. It was difficult to adapt from learning face to face to suddenly being online but I managed to get through it as I am organised in my nature.

I love Dental Nursing and enjoy passing knowledge and skills onto other trainee nurses. I have experience as an NEBDN witness and I have been a mentor to previous trainee nurses. I enjoy feeling like I was an active part of the trainees learning journey and teaching is something that I really want to continue my career in alongside nursing.

I feel that as I have nursed for a few years that I have a lot of ambition and drive to continue to learn and to teach others. Sharing knowledge and experiences is a very valuable tool.

I can relate to how trainees feel as I was in their shoes not so long ago and I have ideas on how to continually support them and improve their learning experiences. Erica asked me if I would like to join the centre in a trainee tutor role. She feels I will be a valuable team member bringing something new to the training centre family.

When the opportunity arose for me to tutor students I was keen to get started! I am about to start my level 3 award in education and training and I will initially be working alongside Erica and the other tutors learning the ropes whilst supporting students on their Learning journeys.

I live with my husband Josh and our cat Marvin. In my spare time I love going out to dinner with friends and playing in my local skittles team. Me and Josh love to travel and our most recent trip was to South East Asia.

Emily Holroyd

Dental Advisor

I have been a general dental practitioner since 2004 after qualifying from Barts and The London. I am committed to continuing development and obtained The Diploma of Membership of Joint Dental Faculties in 2009 and the Diploma of Restorative Dentistry (Royal College of Surgeons of England) in 2015.

I enjoy all aspects of general dentistry, particularly restorative dentistry, and I aim to provide a friendly and relaxed atmosphere in the surgery. I have also assisted on the NEBDN Diploma in Dental Nursing and Radiography courses acting as a witness and mentor for students.

Outside of work I volunteered in Tanzania in with dental charity Bridge2Aid, providing emergency dental treatment and teaching Tanzanian healthcare workers how to extract teeth. I enjoy art, Scandinavian design, baking and photography.

Christina Farley

Marketing & Social Media

With over twenty years experience in Business from Senior roles in the Welfare to Work industry to owning an International Retail Organisation and more recently in the World of Dental, Christina knows a thing or two about Marketing and Business Growth.

Gaining a wealth of experience across multiple industries truly showing the extent of her transferable skills. Christina is working with Dental Nurse Training in a marketing and social media management role.

Bringing the wonderful achievements of the students and staff at DNT to the world via social media on Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn.

Christina loves spending time with her family and friends, loves going to the cinema, enjoys good food (luckily her husband is a great cook!), the odd sea swim and visiting the beach whatever the weather.