Area

Detail

GSCES (require mostly 7/8/9 Grades), followed by ALevels (Biology and Chemistry and any third subject at Grades AAA). UCAT and/or BMAT external exam undertaken usually between Year 12 to Year 13 Summer Time*. Will require Work Experience at a Dental Surgery (during my time, a min of 1 week).

Some universities offer Foundation Courses or adjusted offers for lower grade requirements for Widening Participation. Another potential route is to do a relevant Bio-medical/bio-chemical sciences degree, achieve a first (most likely required) and then apply for Dentistry. Another option would be to do Dental Hygiene and Therapy and then apply for Dentistry. Some people have started one of these aforementioned degrees and then due to high academic achievements in their first year, the university has allowed them to transfer to dentistry - however, these are rare cases, and this should not be considered as the norm. Clear discussions with the Dental school are essential to enable clarity on any potential less direct pathways.

BDS Degree required (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)

Courses in different branches of Dentistry – Orthodontics, Paediatrics, Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Advanced Restorative, Endodontics, Prosthodontics, Implantology, Periodontology, Public Health, Etc.

Self-employed after foundation year training (NHS, Mixed NHS and Private, or fully Private). There are now some employed roles in general dentistry. There are also employed roles in hospital/community clinic settings.

Diagnosing Dental Conditions in the domains of Tooth Decay, Gum Health, Tooth Surface Loss, Oral Condition, Gap Replacement, Dental Infections, etc. Creating Treatment plans for patients alongside risks, benefits, alternatives, and monitoring areas. Referring when diagnosis is out of scope of clinical practice for primary care. Managing children’s oral health. Managing patients with complex medical disease, disorders, etc.

Self-Employed so you choose how little or how much (but best advice is to work as much as possible during earlier years).

£65,000+ if solely NHS, more so if private and extra training/Courses – more rewarding to help people who need it - can be stressful for the amount earned, but this shouldn’t be the only focus. Salary increases based on NHS contract and the amount of patients seen/treatment completed.

Can see up to 30 patients a day but a lot of pattern recognition. Lots of studying required at university, as exams are very intense.

Complete Autonomy – you make the decisions but colleagues can help if you want to talk about difficult cases.

As a Foundation Dentist, I’m still studying when I have free time to keep my confidence high in dental science for when I have challenging cases. Can take years after qualifying as a dentist to truly feel comfortable and confident in complex situations to provide the best management, but that’s rewarding in of itself!

I currently use AI in my notes templates for patients to speed up note-taking for patients.

More important to be a good communicator rather than how skilled clinically you are – be chatty and friendly, free of judgement! Need to be caring and compassionate.

Very interesting area to work in. With technology evolving at an unprecedented rate, the cyber threat landscape is ever-changing. Thus, a career in cyber means always learning about new threats (like AI) and staying at least one step ahead of cyber criminals. Moreover, as technology continues to advance, there will always be jobs in cyber.

Area

Detail

GSCES (require mostly 7/8/9 Grades), followed by ALevels (Biology and Chemistry and any third subject at Grades AAA). UCAT and/or BMAT external exam undertaken usually between Year 12 to Year 13 Summer Time*. Will require Work Experience at a Dental Surgery (during my time, a min of 1 week).

Some universities offer Foundation Courses or adjusted offers for lower grade requirements for Widening Participation. Another potential route is to do a relevant Bio-medical/bio-chemical sciences degree, achieve a first (most likely required) and then apply for Dentistry. Another option would be to do Dental Hygiene and Therapy and then apply for Dentistry. Some people have started one of these aforementioned degrees and then due to high academic achievements in their first year, the university has allowed them to transfer to dentistry - however, these are rare cases, and this should not be considered as the norm. Clear discussions with the Dental school are essential to enable clarity on any potential less direct pathways.

BDS Degree required (Bachelor of Dental Surgery)

Courses in different branches of Dentistry – Orthodontics, Paediatrics, Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Advanced Restorative, Endodontics, Prosthodontics, Implantology, Periodontology, Public Health, Etc.

Self-employed after foundation year training (NHS, Mixed NHS and Private, or fully Private). There are now some employed roles in general dentistry. There are also employed roles in hospital/community clinic settings.

Diagnosing Dental Conditions in the domains of Tooth Decay, Gum Health, Tooth Surface Loss, Oral Condition, Gap Replacement, Dental Infections, etc. Creating Treatment plans for patients alongside risks, benefits, alternatives, and monitoring areas. Referring when diagnosis is out of scope of clinical practice for primary care. Managing children’s oral health. Managing patients with complex medical disease, disorders, etc.

Self-Employed so you choose how little or how much (but best advice is to work as much as possible during earlier years).

£65,000+ if solely NHS, more so if private and extra training/Courses – more rewarding to help people who need it - can be stressful for the amount earned, but this shouldn’t be the only focus. Salary increases based on NHS contract and the amount of patients seen/treatment completed.

Can see up to 30 patients a day but a lot of pattern recognition. Lots of studying required at university, as exams are very intense.

Complete Autonomy – you make the decisions but colleagues can help if you want to talk about difficult cases.

As a Foundation Dentist, I’m still studying when I have free time to keep my confidence high in dental science for when I have challenging cases. Can take years after qualifying as a dentist to truly feel comfortable and confident in complex situations to provide the best management, but that’s rewarding in of itself!

I currently use AI in my notes templates for patients to speed up note-taking for patients.

More important to be a good communicator rather than how skilled clinically you are – be chatty and friendly, free of judgement! Need to be caring and compassionate.

Very interesting area to work in. With technology evolving at an unprecedented rate, the cyber threat landscape is ever-changing. Thus, a career in cyber means always learning about new threats (like AI) and staying at least one step ahead of cyber criminals. Moreover, as technology continues to advance, there will always be jobs in cyber.