Dental therapists/ hygienists
The SAAD Assessed Sedation Therapist (SAST) scheme
The aim of the SAST scheme it to provide the Dental Hygienist / Therapist with the knowledge, skills and attitudes required for the competent practice of inhalation conscious sedation for dentistry.
The course is compliant with the syllabus published by the IACSD in April 2015 and has been accredited by IACSD.
The SAST scheme comprises of knowledge and skills training, written & practical assessments, and supervised clinical experience.
Course Content
Anatomy, physiology and pharmacology
Patient assessment and treatment planning
Inhalation Sedation – theory and practical
Psychological, and other sedation techniques
Management of complications, airways skills & patients with medical problems
Current guidance & keeping away from the lawyers
Why choose this course
- Be taught by the country’s best known dental sedation teachers
- Detailed course notes are provided
- A certificate of attendance is awarded at the end of the course
- This is a rewarding course, which is both educational and fun!
Objectives
- Explain the principles of safe and effective conscious sedation
- Describe patient assessment and treatment planning
- Describe the use of Basic conscious sedation techniques including the administration of sedation drug(s), monitoring, recovery and discharge
- Describe the management of sedation-related complications
Knowledge and skills training
The two-day SAAD National course provides the necessary knowledge and skills training
Detailed course notes are provided
The written assessment is in the form of a ‘Single Best Answer’ (SBA) assessment paper
The practical assessment assesses knowledge of the IS machine and clinical technique
Supervised clinical experience
The required supervised clinical experience comprises of ten cases where the participant has provided the sedation, and for five of those cases the participant should have provided both the sedation and the treatment.
The supervised clinical experience takes place at the participant’s work place. Participants will need to be able to nominate a supervisor before they attend the course; providing details of the supervisor’s experience and qualifications in sedation.
This supervisor must be the person who signs off the participant’s logbook and Direct Observation of Practice forms.
Based on the information you provide SAAD will have to confirm the suitability of the supervisor prior to the commencement of supervised clinical practice.
Please ensure that you can provide all of the required information at the time of registration because we cannot accept your registration without this.
1. Name(s) of the person(s) who will be supervising your clinical experience
2. The dental sedation qualifications of the supervisor(s).
3. The dental sedation experience of your supervisor(s). e.g. how long have they been providing sedation, how many cases and the case mix.
4. An indication of the inhalation sedation services offered.
5. The address of the sedation facility.
6. A brief description of the sedation facility
About Our Teaching
SAAD’s teaching is provided by a faculty of the best known names in dental sedation within the UK. Our course provides a sound foundation in basic conscious sedation techniques.
Most topics are covered by lectures, demonstrations and small group practical sessions.
There are practical skill stations in venepuncture, monitoring and Basic Life Support.
Students are encouraged to ask lots of questions!
Meet Our Faculty
Dr David Craig
David has over 35 years' experience teaching conscious sedation techniques to undergraduate students, dental and medical practitioners in the UK and abroad and has served on dental and multi-disciplinary groups preparing guidelines for safe sedation practice.
His interests include airway assessment, multi drug sedation techniques and promoting the effective and safe use of procedural conscious sedation in dentistry and medicine
David is a Consultant in Special Care Dentistry at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, and Visiting Professor at the University of Portsmouth. He is a Past president of SAAD and was the Course Director from 2001 until 2019Teaching Faculty, SAAD
Dr Carole Boyle
Carole is a Consultant in Special Care Dentistry at King’s College London Dental Institute, Guy’s, King’s College and St Thomas’ Hospitals.
Her particular interests are using sedation for people who require special care, and teaching sedation both to undergraduates and postgraduates.
She is the training programme director for Special Care Dentistry London Deanery and manages the Special Care GA service at GSTT.
SAAD Assistant Course Director, Past President & Honorary Life Member, SAAD
Dr Leah Adams
Leah is a GDP and sedation lead in a private dental practice in Cheltenham. She has a special interest in treating anxious children and adults and providing conscious sedation, as well as teaching sedation and mentoring dentists and nurses. Leah gained her MSc in conscious sedation at Cardiff University and continued to teach on the MSc course for several years.
GDP in Cheltenham & SAAD Trustee, SAAD
Dr Prableen Anand
Prableen is currently a Consultant and Honorary Clinical Lecturer in Paediatric Dentistry at The Eastman Dental Hospital, University College Hospitals NHS Trust, London. Her areas of special interest are sedation, pain control, oral surgery, trauma and general anaesthesia. She is the lead on general anaesthesia and IV sedation in the department.
Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry, Eastman Dental Hospital, SAAD
Dr Mike Clarke
Mike qualified from Cardiff in 1979 and practised in North Yorkshire until 2005. He worked with DPL from 1995 until 2017; as an advisor for many years and then as the Head of Dental Underwriting Policy. He has been active in dental politics for many years and is a regular contributor to the dental press. He is a past chairman of the Dental Practitioners' Association, a former member of the Department of Health's Standing Dental Advisory Committee and a past vice-chairman of the BDA’s Private Practice Committee. He is currently a senior member of the Research Ethic Committee.
Former Head of Risk at Dental Protection Ltd., SAAD
Mrs Jilly Gooby
Gilly is a registered general nurse with a background of senior nursing posts in ITU, ED, general nursing and has been a Resus Officer for over 20 years, working within the NHS and also privately for her own company, Southern Resuscitation Services Ltd. Gilly is a Resuscitation Council instructor in both adult and paediatric, basic, immediate and advanced life support, teaching regularly both nationally and intentionally for a variety of health care settings.
Resuscitation Council Instructor, Adult and Paediatric, Basic, Immediate and Advanced Life Support., SAAD
Dr Jennifer Hare
Working within dental settings for over 10-years, Jen contributes to the teaching of dentists and dental-professionals within the NHS and in her KCL role. She has been a member of the SAAD Digest editorial board and teaching faculty since 2014.
Her research interests include cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) for dental fear, including the use of virtual reality (VR) for exposure in the treatment of dental phobia, as well as communication, risk screening and behaviour change in the dental setting.
Jen is a Consultant Health Psychologist at Guy’s & St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and leads the Dental Psychology Service; providing input for individuals with dental phobia, oro-facial pain and orthognathic surgical assessments.
Consultant Health Psychologist. KCL Dental Institute, SAAD
Dr Christopher Holden
Chris practises as a general dental practitioner in Derbyshire. He has been an author of most national guidance documents on dental sedation in the last 15 years. Chris regularly provides expert evidence in the UK, Europe and worldwide and is immediate past president of The International Federation of Dental anaesthesiology Societies.
Past President and Trustee of SAAD, GDP Derbyshire, SAAD
Dr Steve Jones
Stephen is Clinical Lead for Conscious Sedation in the School of Dentistry, University of Central Lancashire. In his previous role as a Clinical Director he was involved in the organisation and development of dental sedation within the Truste-based dental service in Cumbria. He gained the Diploma in Conscious Sedation from the University of Newcastle upon Tyne in 1997.
President of SAAD, SAAD
Mrs Emma Lee
Emma taught for many years in the department of Sedation and Special Care Dentistry at Guy’s Hospital. She is currently working as a Training and Development Manager for Lincolnshire Community Health Services.
SAAD Assessed Sedation Nurse (SASN) scheme Co-ordinator, SAAD
Dr Yi Kwan Loo
Yi is Deputy Sedation Lead in the Paediatric Department, King’s College Dental Institute. After completing the Diploma in Conscious Sedation, Newcastle University, she provided advanced adult and paediatric sedation as a GDP and teaches undergraduates and postgraduates throughout the UK.
Her interests include provision of advanced paediatric sedation, training for the undergraduate and postgraduate dental team and promoting safe collaborative team working.
Yi is a Paediatric Specialty Registrar and Deputy Sedation Lead based at King’s College Dental Institute and Kent Community Health Foundation Trust. She is a SAAD Trustee and Assistant Editor of the SAAD Digest.
Deputy Sedation Lead, Paediatric Dental Department at King’s College Dental Institute & SAAD Trustee, SAAD
Dr Najla Nizarali
Najla is a full time member of staff at KCL Dental Institute, in the Department of Sedation and Special Care Dentistry. She is involved in teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students in the department and in treating patients with a variety of sedation techniques.
Lecturer, KCL Dental Institute, SAAD
Dr Damien Reilly
Damien is a Consultant in Special Care Dentistry. In addition to this appointment at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare, he also teaches in the Department of Sedation and Special Care Dentistry at Guy's Hospital.Damien has a particular interest in the provision of sedation for obese patients.
Consultant in Special Care Dentistry at Surrey and Sussex Healthcare NHS Trust, SAAD
Mrs Toni Richman
Toni has for many years assisted and demonstrated on the techniques of Conscious Dental Sedation. She has presented at numerous post graduate courses within the UK and Ireland. She is a Senior Dental Nurse in Billingshurst, West Sussex.
Course Administrator, SAAD
Dr Laleh Sharifian
Laleh has been providing Conscious Intravenous Sedation for adults in the primary care setting for over 15 years. She is also involved with the provision of sedation related CPD and ILS courses for dental practices in accordance with GDC guidelines.
Laleh has an interest in the emotional management of the anxious dental patient and making sedation accessible for GDPs so that they are able to offer this to their patients.
Laleh is a peripatetic sedationist covering dental practices in the south east of UK and providing intravenous sedation services. Laleh also still works as a GDP one day a week in practice.
GDP London & Peripatetic Sedationist, SAAD
Dr Zahra Shehabi
Zahra is a Consultant in Special Care Dentistry at the Royal London Dental Hospital. She completed MSc's in Sedation and Special Care Dentistry in 2011 (Kings College, London) and Healthcare Management in 2016 (City University, London). Zahra is heavily involved in undergraduate and postgraduate sedation teaching and is a member of the SAAD Teaching Faculty. Her clinical interests include intravenous sedation (basic and advanced techniques) for patients with challenging behaviour and those undergoing implant surgery.
Consultant in Special Care Dentistry at Barts Health & SAAD Trustee, SAAD
Dr Emily Sherwin
Emily has over 12 years’ experience providing conscious sedation to dental patients in both a community and hospital setting. She continues to be involved with undergraduate and postgraduate teaching and training in conscious sedation.
Her interests include providing sedation for patients with learning disabilities and complex medical needs along with advanced sedation techniques. She is involved with the development and delivery of postgraduate education courses in conscious sedation.
Emily is a Consultant in Special Care Dentistry at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust and an Honorary Clinical Senior Lecturer at the Dental Institute, King’s College London.
Consultant, Department of Sedation and Special Care Dentistry, Guy's Hospital, SAAD
New starter?
Under current IACSD guidance, any dental therapist or hygienist who was not providing sedation independently prior to April 2015, is designated a 'New Starter' and will need to undergo a period of supervised clinical practice before being able to independently provide inhalation sedation.
If you are a new starter then you should register for the SAAD Assessed Sedation Therapist/Hygienist (SAST) scheme.
Please sign up to receive updates of course dates
Reserve a place on the SAST scheme
Registration
The dates for the next course have yet to be confirmed.
IACSD
‘Standards for Conscious Sedation in the Provision of Dental Care’ (April 2015)
Following publication of the IACSD standards in April 2015, dentists, doctors, dental hygienists/therapists and dental nurses who have no previous experience in conscious sedation for dentistry must now undertake appropriate training before commencing independent clinical practice.
All training programmes for ‘new starters’ must include supervised clinical experience and have external validation. UK university-based courses and those run by Postgraduate Deaneries are deemed to be compliant. Other courses leading to independent (i.e. unsupervised) practice, including those run by private providers, must be accredited by the Sedation Training and Accreditation Committee (STAC) of IACSD.
The IACSD standards state that practitioners offering supervised clinical experience in conscious sedation must now be accredited by a university, deanery or IACSD (p34, 86).