Linda Garrad has always wanted to help others. So when it came to deciding on her future she found the perfect career – she trained as a dental nurse.

Now the practice manager at HSJ Dental, in Ipswich Road, Colchester, Linda worked hard to fit in study and work, but has never looked back.

This year she celebrates 25 years with the practice and says the profession is still incredibly rewarding and challenging as it was the day she joined the industry after school.

Linda, 57, took on an evening course while she worked full-time as a dental surgery assistant, now a dental nurse, in London. She qualified in 1974 and developed her experience at two other surgeries before she decided to leave London.

She says: “I was pregnant and didn’t want to bring the children up in London, it’s too busy. So we all moved to Colchester. I did various jobs until I found a job as a dental nurse at a surgery in The Avenue, Colchester.

Within three months of moving to a new job at HSJ Dental, previously named Highwoods and St Johns Dental Practice run by Colin Brodie, Linda was promoted to practice manager.

She says: “That was the start of a very long and exciting journey, albeit with some bumps along the way. When I embarked on my Practice Managers’ Association Certificate it was a great shock to return to study after years away. I drew on all my experience of setting up a practice and am proud to say I achieved the certificate in 1997, which was its first year of its existence.”

Being a dental nurse equipped her with essential skills she could then develop in her new role. Linda explains: “To be a dental nurse you have to have empathy. It’s a full-on job, but it’s also rewarding. It’s never the same one day to the next.

“Each dentist works differently, so you have to adapt to that, and you need common sense. You have to want to learn because things change and you have to be on top of changes.”

As a dental nurse Linda’s jobs would include setting things out for the dentist, sterilising equipment, staying one step ahead and knowing what the dentist may need before they do.

Above all good communication skills are essential, she says, as well as learning how to work as part of a team.

Linda says: “I once asked Colin what my job description was. His reply was everything, believe me he was right. I even have my own tool kit!”

Linda says new trainees can either join an apprenticeship scheme or study in the evenings and work full time at a practice to gain their qualifications.

Funding is available for 16 to 24- year-olds and colleges offering the training, include Colchester Institute and Ipswich College