Dental Surgery

Dental surgery, or dentistry, is one of the healthcare professions requiring the most extensive integrated training, combining biomedical science with the technical, clinical, and interpersonal skills needed to diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases of the teeth, mouth, and associated structures. Dentists work with patients of all ages, performing procedures ranging from routine examinations, fillings, and extractions to complex restorative and surgical work, and play a central role in maintaining and promoting oral health across populations. The profession requires both scientific rigour and the kind of precision manual skill that only sustained clinical practice develops.

At Plymouth this five-year full-time BDS programme builds from foundational basic and clinical sciences through to fully supervised clinical practice, equipping you to work safely and effectively with patients from an increasingly early stage of your training. You will study human disease prevention, the science of dental biomaterials, the safe use of ionising radiation, and the integrated dental sciences that underpin all clinical practice. The programme develops knowledge acquisition, critical understanding, and the ability to apply scientific principles in clinical contexts, progressing in complexity and autonomy as your skills develop.

Plymouth's teaching hospital provides a rich clinical environment in which you will work with real patients under professional supervision, building the competence and judgment that qualified dental practice requires.

Graduation from a GDC-approved programme leads to registration with the General Dental Council and the right to practise as a dentist. Most graduates enter a foundation training year before joining dental practice in NHS or private settings, or pursuing specialist training. Career paths in dentistry include general dental practice, hospital dentistry, dental public health, academic dentistry, and specialist careers in areas including oral surgery, orthodontics, endodontics, and restorative dentistry.

A significant proportion of dentists eventually establish or join private practices, while others contribute to NHS dental care or academic and research careers.