Example interview questions for dentistry applicants

I had some old practice questions left over from when I applied last year so I thought I would post them on TSR to give this year’s applicants a chance to practice especially since admissions forum is still down. If anyone else has any practice questions feel free to add them to my list.

Why do you want to come to ……… university?

What examples of your manual dexterity do you have and did you bring anything with you to show us?

What are the negative aspects of dentistry?

If taxpayers pay tax for dental students to become dentists do you think all dentists should have to work in the NHS for a certain number of years?

Can you think of a good example of your team working skills?

Tell us about what you observed on your work experience?

Why do you think that many NHS dentists are going private?

How are you doing in your A levels?

Why do you want to study dentistry?

What qualities should a dentist have?

What can you offer us as a student?

How do you cope with stress?

How is dentistry different to other jobs?

What do you do in your spare time to relax?

Can you tell us about any modern advances in dentistry?

How do you feel about the lack of dentists in this country and the lack of funding for dentists?

How do you feel about dentists moving over to this country e.g from Poland where there is an even greater shortage of dentists?

Why do some people underestimate the value of their teeth?

How should the government spend money on NHS dentistry and prevention of dental disease?

Are dentists portrayed badly in the media?

What stresses do dentists face other than their time management?

Reply 1

majorraja

Kaytus

especially since admissions forum is still down.

It's back

Reply 2

Kaytus

i'm glad its back but it would happen just after i posted all those questions for you guys

Reply 3

Kaytus

It would be good if a mod could make this thread a sticky (please!) because i've had a couple of people ask me about interview questions after this thread was posted

Reply 4

Miss Precious

^I think you may need to pm one of the mods!

Reply 5

snapcracklenpop

wow thanks for these...but i dno wat i would say for that tax payers question- what did u say???
rish

Reply 6

silent ninja

If taxpayers pay tax for dental students to become dentists do you think all dentists should have to work in the NHS for a certain number of years?

How would you answer this? Not really sure...
I would say no because tax payers pay for everyone's education and other professions have the freedom of working where they see fit. There should be more incentives to work for the NHS (better contracts) but dentists should be able to choose freely. Besides this, dentists pay back loads of tax anyway, just like every other working person.

Reply 7

precious_ruby

What stresses do dentists face other than their time management?

Id be really grateful if i could have some help with this question, thanks

Reply 8

Kaytus

well one of the worst case scenarios i can think of would be that if you were running a couple of minutes late already and had a patient in the chair and their procedure that was was supposed to be really quick and simple became long and complicated for whatever reason and you became an hour behind. You'd have a waiting room full of patients who were annoyed at you because their appointments are late, the dental nurses being annoyed at you because they missed their breaks and will have to finish work late and the patient in the chair annoyed and quite frightened because their treatment isn't going according to plan.
then to top it all off an elderly patient comes in and calls you a bad dentist and says they will tell everyone they know that you are a bad dentist because you've adjusted their dentures 3 times already as best as you can and they still don't fit properly.

Reply 9

modz10

the questions are really helpful..though if you could help me out wit the answer to modern advances in dentistry and explain bou the NHS thing!!

Reply 10

gosip girl xoxo

i have an interview so soon and im so scared. dont know what they'll ask or how to act, how to sit, how to respond or what questions i should ask? or what to say if they ask me somthing i dont know? im proper confused about this whole interview thing anyway. urgh

Reply 11

hasilegend

I know its really nerve-racking but we need to remain calm and think of it as a formal chat really. Dont be shy i guess and make it an enjoyable/informative convo rather than a Q&A session :smile:

.. i hope i can do it...

P.S. I love you OP for posting this :wink:

Reply 12

thatnewguy

Good bump gossip girl. Why not try reading through each of the questions given and developing an answer in your head (or write it down). You don't have to memorise it, just so that when they ask you have a firm idea of what you're going to say. In this way you'll appear calmer and confidently informed then if you're reading a list in your head or hadn't prepared.