Dental Research Examiner (Growing Well Study)

Location: Leeds - Main Campus

Working time: 0.4 FTE

Contract type: Fixed term (12 months from 1^st September 2026 - the post is a training/discrete placement.)

Interview date: Friday 27^th March 2026

Only open to those who have applied for WT&E Dental Foundation Therapist training.

Are you a dental health professional able to undertake dental inspections and collect clinical dental data with a background or interest in research and keen to learn more? 

Do you want to work with a group of inter-disciplinary academics and develop your clinical research skills? 

These posts will make the Dental Therapy Foundation Training posts into full time positions (e.g. you will be employed three days a week by NHS WT&E and two days a week by University of Leeds). The job contracts will be separate but the posts will otherwise be integrated across these two roles. There are four posts, based in Leeds and Doncaster. You will be employed two days a week working as part of a large research study called Growing Well (growingwell.leeds.ac.uk). This NIHR funded study is exploring what preschool children are eating and drinking and how this shapes their growth and dental health. You will be trained and calibrated as a National Dental Epidemiology examiner to undertake standardised dental inspections. You will the work with the wider research team to examine young children in community settings and record their dental health. On research days when you are not undertaking dental inspections you will travel to the University of Leeds and work with the Growing Well research team on other aspects of the study. Over your foundation year, you will develop a wide range of research skills and will work with research leaders in child health, nutrition, dentistry, and anthropology. 

You are invited to attend an online information webinar to find out more about the Growing Well research study and ask any questions about the study itself, as well as the role. 

Date: Wednesday 25^th February 2026

Time: 6:00pm – 6:30pm (UK time)

Venue: Hosted online via Microsoft Teams

How to book: Contact Jessica Petch (j.petch@leeds.ac.uk) via email to confirm your attendance for the webinar by 12:30pm on Wednesday 25^th of February. Jessica will then add you to the invite list for the webinar and send you an access link

For further information about the research study, please see here: 
 
environment.leeds.ac.uk/directories0/dir-record/research-projects/2164/growing-well-study-the-role-of-portion-size-plant-based-and-commercial-foods-on-young-child-growth

For this role you will be required to travel to different Family hubs and Community centres in Doncaster (two posts) and Leeds (two posts) and to the University of Leeds (on research days when there is no field work, all posts). You will need a degree of flexibility to meet the needs of families and community settings, as well as the research project as required by the Growing Well project.

These duties provide a framework for the role and should not be regarded as a definitive list. Other reasonable duties may be required consistent with the grade of the post.

Interview date: 27^th March 2026 (run jointly with NHS WT&E)

To explore the post further or for any queries you may have, please contact: 

Peter Day, Professor of Children’s Oral Health and Consultant in Paediatric Dentistry 

Tel: +44 (0)113 343 6139

Email: p.f.day@leeds.ac.uk

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