From our unique location in the East End of London, our students have access to a wide range of oral health issues and a comprehensive, hands-on learning experience.
Rooted in one of the most diverse areas of London – and the UK – the Institute of Dentistry offers students a modern, integrated and exciting curriculum and unparalleled access to a breadth of different patients and issues, including rare oral cancers. By applying teaching principles and methods when treating a patient, you will build the real-world knowledge and experience needed to prepare for a career in dentistry.
Compared to more traditional programmes, we focus less on formal lectures and more on involving students in patient care from the diagnosis stage through to assessment, management and prevention of the disease. Throughout this, you will work with fellow students, as well as forge your own unique attitude to learning and decision-making.
There are five key components to our curriculum which you will learn about over your five years with us.
In your first year, you will follow a curriculum which covers the scientific basis of clinical practice, familiarising yourself with biological structures, cell function, the body’s main organs and systems, and oral biology. You will also examine the impact global health, social and environmental factors have on the population, and what this means for clinical skills, dental materials and how we apply these. As part and parcel of this, you will start to hone your own clinical skills and think critically.
Students are introduced to a wider range of dental topics in their second year. These include restorative dentistry, endodontics, oral surgery, periodontics and radiography.
You will build on and consolidate your knowledge, skills and experience throughout your third year. In your fourth year you will be able to broaden your personal and professional development and complete an elective either in the UK or overseas. If there are related areas of interest you wish to explore further, students have the chance to take elective modules in areas including Pathology, Pharmacology and Prevention of Oral Diseases.
By the end of your studies you will be familiar with an exceptional range of oral diseases, their causes and impacts. Through hands-on work within our community you will have developed clinical competence and skills and be able to think critically – all of which means you will have the tools and support to continue your professional development as a qualified dentist.