A DENTAL student, formerly from Tavistock, has been crowned regional winner of a national dental skills competition and is now preparing for the competition finals in March.

Natalie Miller, who grew up in Tavistock, was victorious in the Aberdeen regional round of the one-of-a-kind, national dental skills competition run by Britain’s oldest surgical Royal College, the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh (RCSEd).

The competition sees final year dental students from across Britain demonstrate their skills in a series of challenges.

The competition begins with 16 rounds, one at each UK dental school, during which the students are asked to undertake complex dental work on a mouth mould, which is then anonymously submitted to the assessors who announce the winner a nail-biting 60 minutes later.

Natalie, 24, was excited to win the round. She said: ‘I feel really fortunate to have made it through to the final and I’m excited for what the next stage of the dental skills competition will bring. The regional heat was really good fun and a great opportunity to consolidate my clinical skills. It provided a chance to practise MCC preparations and enabled me to focus on producing the best standard of quality I can achieve.’

Along with a certificate and a trophy, Natalie was awarded a travel and accommodation package to compete in the grand final in Edinburgh on March 30, 2017, at which the top 16 finalists from across the UK will undertake a broad range of clinical procedures before determining who will be crowned the overall apprentice dentist winner at the competition’s grand final dinner.

Brian Nattress, a member of the dental council at the college and a consultant restorative dentist in Leeds, said: ‘The dental skills competition really captures the students‘ enthusiasm and drive and challenges them on a range of key clinical skills; competing against the best students in the country is a significant challenge.’

As well as prizes being awarded to the winner and runner-up, all participants of the competition will receive a certificate of participation as well as two year’s affiliation to the RCSEd’s Pre-Membership Dental Affiliate Network.

Professor William Saunders, dean of the dental faculty at the RCSEd, said: ‘One of the major aims of the dental faculty of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh is to set and quality assure the highest standards for the dental profession and recognise that with the award of membership and fellowship.

This competition is a shining example of ensuring that those standards are constantly being challenged and updated, with students benefiting from the networking oppor-tunities it brings. RCSEdis very keen to interact with the undergraduate dental schools in the UK and this competition provides an excellent way for dental students to become engaged with us.’