Dentistry application help

Hi all,
I’m going into Year 12 and I’ve just made a list of everything I’ll need for my dentistry application. Id like some thoughts on whether it’s too much, or if I need more. this is of course alongside achieving at least AAA in my A levels.
EPQ
UCAT 2760+ , Band 1/2
Work experience in a medical setting / shadowing x2
Volunteer in a care home / special school
Virtual work experience x2
Extracurriculars
Join my colleges medical society
Read book on dentistry (to help with PS)
Let me know what you think, any thoughts would be so much help

hi there!! successful dentistry applicant here (2025 entry)
there isn’t anything you 100% need for the application, it’s much more about quality over quantity. like with extracurriculars work experience etc. personally my only wex was 2 weeks shadowing in a local practice and this was plenty as to be honest there isn’t that much you can see it’s mainly just checkups (gets pretty boring haha!!) but of course as much exposure you can get is still great, just not necessary. my best piece of advice for PS/interview prep would be to make a list of all the skills you need for dentistry - think empathy, communication, teamwork, etc, and have an example of 1. where you saw this in work experience (eg empathy towards nervous patients receiving local anaesthetic) 2. why the skill was useful for the dentist (calms patient, allows treatment to be delivered, improve their OH) and 3. where you’ve shown this skill (eg volunteering in care home) .
i hope that made some sense, of course as much experience extracurriculars and stuff is great but you really don’t want to overwhelm yourself, as staying on top of your a level work is vital as well. good luck!!

Thanks a lot. That really is so helpful. How did you get two weeks wex in your local practice? I know a lot of them are quite awkward about it. I’m going for a checkup in two weeks so it would be great to know how you asked

no worries! honestly getting wex was a nightmare, i emailed probably 15 different practices in my area basically just being like hi im looking to study dentistry is there any available opportunities to do work experience. but yeah you’re right it can be tricky, i only got one which came back to me and said i could do it. if you’re going for a checkup definitely try asking! don’t be discouraged if they say no, just keep trying in as many places as you can

Okay thank you. Would you recommend I start getting some emails sent as soon as I can? Since clearly it may take a while to get one 😭 when did you do yours? As it would be hard to find time apart from the weekends

yeah if you can get it organised asap that’d be great, but don’t be too worried - i think i got
mine sorted in january ish of y12. my first week was on the last week of year 12 before summer, and the second week was the first week of summer before year 13. not sure what it’s like at your sixth form but for us we were allowed as much time off school for wex as long as it didn’t clash with mock exams, so maybe wait and see until you start in september to see what your teachers say about when
you are able do it.

you did yours in school time? How on earth did you catch up with your work? I don’t think I’d be able to tbh..I’d have to do it in holidays or something

no worries! honestly getting wex was a nightmare, i emailed probably 15 different practices in my area basically just being like hi im looking to study dentistry is there any available opportunities to do work experience. but yeah you’re right it can be tricky, i only got one which came back to me and said i could do it. if you’re going for a checkup definitely try asking! don’t be discouraged if they say no, just keep trying in as many places as you can

Hey could I dm you?