Dentistry after a Medical Degree

Hey.

I am looking to doing dentistry after I finish my medical school and training as I am really interested in Max Fax surgery. Does anyone know of universities, other than King's College London, that accept med students? Especially starting in 3rd year instead of the 1st year.

I also want to know if I can work as a dentist if I am unsuccessful in getting onto the surgery training? I am happy to work as a medical doctor but dentistry was also a top choice for me.

Any info regarding this transition is welcome! I am in 1st year so I still have a while yet to start clinicals. But it doesn't hurt to become organised now

Reply 1

thegeek888

18

A friend of mine applied for Glasgow, Kings College London, Queen Mary University of London and Liverpool University. He got rejected from all, based on not having above C's in Biology and Chemistry A-Level but he had got into via clearing to Edinburgh University. He was lucky to get accepted by Liverpool University for a 4-year graduate Dentistry programme. :smile:

So I would recommend applying to Liverpool University. :wink:

Reply 2

McGinger

18

Bristol accepts experienced medics for Dent.

Reply 3

CouchPotato708

OP

4

Original post by thegeek888

A friend of mine applied for Glasgow, Kings College London, Queen Mary University of London and Liverpool University. He got rejected from all, based on not having above C's in Biology and Chemistry A-Level but he had got into via clearing to Edinburgh University. He was lucky to get accepted by Liverpool University for a 4-year graduate Dentistry programme. :smile:

So I would recommend applying to Liverpool University. :wink:

Damn he was very lucky. He must have done well in his 1st degree.

Reply 4

thegeek888

18

Original post by CouchPotato708

Damn he was very lucky. He must have done well in his 1st degree.

Yes, he got 68% in some Infectious Diseases degree, which was almost a 1st class!!! :biggrin:

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 5

realtimme

9

I can’t imagine there are many people with both medicine and dentistry degrees applying for max fax training surely it’s not that competitive?

Reply 6

username5319484

19

What happened in 2017?

Reply 7

realtimme

9

Wow I’m shocked must definitely be the longest training pathway in medicine - lots of people willing to just slice of 10 years of their life to university then another 10 to FP and Specialty training

Reply 8

Mesopotamian…

21

Original post by realtimme

I can’t imagine there are many people with both medicine and dentistry degrees applying for max fax training surely it’s not that competitive?

Can confirm, it’s incredibly competitive. More so because of the small number of spaces available rather than people falling in their thousands to apply.

To answer OP’s question, you will need to look at every dental school’s website to see if they offer the 4-year graduate or 3-year fast tracked BDS for MBBS holders (which can be found on the GDC website).
If you do not have a BDS/ fail to secure a place, you cannot work as a dentist, which I would have thought was fairly obvious. Not sure how a medic would be able to carry out any dental procedures without the training, never mind the fact that you wouldn’t be registered with the GDC.

(edited 2 years ago)

Reply 9

ru1998

4

Original post by CouchPotato708

Hey.

I am looking to doing dentistry after I finish my medical school and training as I am really interested in Max Fax surgery. Does anyone know of universities, other than King's College London, that accept med students? Especially starting in 3rd year instead of the 1st year.

I also want to know if I can work as a dentist if I am unsuccessful in getting onto the surgery training? I am happy to work as a medical doctor but dentistry was also a top choice for me.

Any info regarding this transition is welcome! I am in 1st year so I still have a while yet to start clinicals. But it doesn't hurt to become organised now

Hi. Not sure if you’re still checking this thread. It just about to start at Aberdeen for dentistry. It’s a graduate programme only, is 4 years not 5. My first degree was dental therapy and hygiene. Aberdeen generally require a 2:1 in a BSc Hons degree for admittance but it explicitly says if you are a medical graduate then a first class degree is required. I’d definitely look into it if I were you as Aberdeen seems to have many benefits being a graduate programme only and it has 20 places per year compared to 70+ at other schools.

regarding your question of can you work as a dentist If you’re not successful at the max fax pathway, if you have completed the dental degree and are therefore GDC registered then of course. You may want to work in hospital settings though to gain further experience. I know as a dentist wanting to study medicine, you are expected to have a few years hospital experience as well as having sat the MFDS exams and so you might be overlooked as a newly qualified doctor lacking in experience. You said you’re very early on in medical school so you never know what you’ll decide. It’s definitely good to be prepared early.

Reply 10

Democracy

20

Original post by ru1998

Aberdeen generally require a 2:1 in a BSc Hons degree for admittance but it explicitly says if you are a medical graduate then a first class degree is required.

Are you sure? Medical degrees in the UK are not graded 1st, 2:1 etc.

(edited 9 months ago)

Original post by Democracy

Are you sure? Medical degrees in the UK are not graded 1st, 2:1 etc.

Hi, not sure about the specifics of the entry requirements but we do have quite a lot of information about our Dentistry programmes on our website. Have popped some links below which should be helpful!

Here we've got some details about entry requirements, start dates, fees, and information about what topics you will be able to study with us in a variety of courses.
Undergraduate (Graduate Entry) Dentistry courses: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/degree-programmes/?q=dentistry&view=detailed
Postgraduate Dentistry courses: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/study/postgraduate-taught/degree-programmes/?q=dentistry&view=detailed
For more information about studying Dentistry with us please have a look at the Institute of Dentistry page here: https://www.abdn.ac.uk/dental/

Hope this is helpful and if you have any more questions about our courses give me a shout!

- Matthew, Enquiry Team