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Advice please? Dentistry, dental therapy, hygiene. Mature student

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(edited 7 years ago)
As far as im aware the only way at the moment to be a dentist is to do the 5 year course.
Being a dental therapist probably would be as demanding as a dentist in so far as constant contact with patients so depending on what your health situation is this is something to think about.

Best thing to do is to shadow a dentist/therapist to see if that I'd what you could see yourself doing and take it from there.
The world of dental hygiene/therapy is changing at the moment.

I don't know for certain but I was under the impression that all diploma courses are currently under review with a view to making them into degrees. This is why there is nhs funding and bursaries available at some universities/dental hospitals for the final time this year as the course is in transition. Some uni's never had NHS funded places.

With regards to getting in to study dhdt... it is extremely competitive and whilst good academic grades are important, you also need to have an excellent personal statement and perform well at interview. I can only go on my own experiences but I heard back from 2 uni's I applied to - one had nearly 400 applicants this year for only 16 places and another had over 500 for only 24 places. I believe that the London uni's/hospitals are much more popular with applicants.

However, saying that... this may go down a little next year with the funding being cut?

Plymouth uni used to do a postgraduate course in dentistry but this only meant a reduction down to 4 years. They don't do this course any more but it may be worth looking at other uni's for this option.

Others that I have spoken to around the London area have also applied for Essex as well as the ones you mentioned above.

I would also recommend shadowing or working as a dental nurse while you are waiting to apply. This will give you a good overview of the dental field. If I'm being perfectly honest, if you don't cope with stress well then perhaps being a dentist isn't right for you. I haven't considered being a dentist for this reason... not in the current climate where you have to spend almost more time trying to "cover your back" and cut through red tape than you do actually treating patients.

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