Dentistry

When applying to dentistry there is no doubt that you have excellent grades and a great ability to sit exams but dental school is so so much more… In order to apply you will need to meet the universities entry requirements which all range between an AAA-A*AA offer. There are only 15 unis that offer undergraduate Bachelor’s of Dental Surgery degrees: Belfast Birmingham Bristol Cardiff Dundee Glasgow Leeds Liverpool (Graduate entry also) King’s College London (Graduate entry also) Queen Mary University of London Manchester Plymouth Sheffield Aberdeen (Graduate entry only) Preston UCLAN (Graduate entry only)   Obviously, you will need to write a personal statement and make an application on UCAS like all other students applying to uni. You will also need to sit the UCAT or BMAT exam (depending on where you are applying). If all goes well you will be offered an interview at the individual universities, which is the final stop before receiving offers.

How does dental school compare to A-Levels and IB? The transition from school to A-Levels is very daunting and what your about to read may not help the situation. HOWEVER, it is really important to remember that you will adapt and overcome the challenges. They don’t all happen at once and you really are given a whole year to settle in. The work load is high similar to A-Levels and IB (ALIB). You will be expected to be independent and the biggest change between school and university is the lack of teachers chasing you up for work. Ultimately, if you don’t complete the work then you are out on your own. This can be fairly difficult to adapt too over the first year but becomes normal from then onwards. You will have a variety of teaching: lectures, seminars, clinical practice, clinical observations and clinical sessions on patients. Most unis start patient work in the 2nd or 3rd year, 1st and 2nd year are usually very content heavy to make sure you are ready to go near the patients! Unsurprisingly there is a step up in the level of content but you will find yourself revisiting lots of ALIB biology and chemistry content that you previously learned, its just a case of building upon this and applying it to the dental setting. How am I assessed? A-Levels and IB (ALIB) are very content heavy and most of your performance is assessed by final exams. Dental school is not dis-similar. Whilst there are elements of course work, essays, group submissions and clinical portfolios; you will ultimately be assessed by exams every year. The number and type of exam varies from school to school but generally there are multiple choice exams, essay exams, short answer questions (much like ALIB high mark questions) and case based exams (a variety of questions based on a clinical case). Some universities also conduct vivas which are oral examinations where you present and are questioned by examiners. To add to the madness, your clinical ability has to be assessed as well. This can be done in a variety of methods: quotas (eg. How many fillings have you done), clinical assessments on phantom heads (fake heads), clinical assessments on patients and OSCEs (clinical scenario exams).   Common Misconceptions Degree structure Unlike most other university courses, you will have clinical work to do from very early on in the degree. This means that you may not spend as much time in a lecture theatre but will be expected to attend clinics regularly. It’s the clinical time that you have that will make sure you are a good dentist so these are such important sessions. I will have no time! Going into my degree I was expecting to be working 9-5 every day however I was surprised to find this wasn’t the case until years 4 and 5! Whilst there is lots to do, theres also plenty of time to do it. However, be prepared for haphazard timetables as some universities have their patient clinics in evenings and even on weekends!

Unsurprisingly most dental students end up becoming dentists! However, this is not as limited as it sounds.

General practice dentistry:

• Associate – working within a practice for another dentist
• Principle – owning a dental practice

Hospital dentistry:

• Staff grade jobs – work within hospital specialist settings inbetween training
• Further training – dental core training and further degree training in order to specialise
• Specialist training – there are many different specialties within dentistry, all with their own training pathways (https://dental.hee.nhs.uk/dental-trainee-recruitment/dental-specialty-training/dental-specialty-training-dst/specialty-training-overview)

Research: Teaching – training other dentists (often requires further training first)

There are also some other routes that dental students take following their degree:

• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery – usually dual-qualified (medicine and dentistry)
• Medicolegal – working within the legal system as a consultant following further training
• Management – as a practice owner or within dental companies or dental corporate groups Entrepreneur – many dental students go on to build their own businesses, both within dentistry and some in a completely different field.
• Finance – although rare, it is reported that medics can transition to finance investment banking once finished with their training, its similar for dentists but very rare.