Dentistry Graduate/Professional Entry Programme

Currently, students study the following programme structure. King's reviews its programmes on a regular basis in order to continue to offer innovative and exciting learning opportunities and this information is therefore subject to change. Please check here for updates, or contact the School/department for further advice.

The first year begins early for the graduate entry students as they undertake a three-week course in applied dental science to give them the dental knowledge and skills to enable them to study with the students who have completed year one of the five-year BDS programme. The fourth year students are incorporated into the BDS2 year groups and take the same assessments and tests. The graduate students are given an opportunity throughout their first year to review topics studied in BDS1 such that by the end of the first year, their skills and knowledge are exactly the same as any other dental student entering year three of the standard programme.

The theme of the BDS2 is the dentate patient with applied basic dental science and preparation for prevention of oral disease and treatment of patients. You will also study integrated courses covering the development, structure and function of the nervous system, which provide a basis for understanding all aspects of the nervous system involved in dentistry, such as pain and anxiety; oral biology, which deals with the oral and dental aspects of the biological sciences, including the influence of nutrition and endocrine factors; and pathology, which covers the study of the cellular and molecular basis of human disease.

You will begin the acquisition of clinical skills in the clinical skills centre of the restorative dentistry group. During this year you will be treating your own adult patients, providing preventive advice and undertaking straightforward procedures in periodontology and conservative dentistry. You will also learn dental materials science and behavioural science.


The themes of the second year of the four-year programme are the treatment of the partially dentate adult and the relevance of human disease. You will be taught human disease to enable you to understand the manifestations of disease so far as they are relevant to the practice of dentistry. This will include maintenance of the well-being of patients, dealing with emergencies and communicating effectively with patients, their relatives and medical practitioners about their health. You will attend a peripheral hospital for two weeks to increase your experience of human disease. The study of dental materials science is continued to underpin the expanding care of adult patients with the development of skills to manage the partially dentate patient. The major input from clinical dental science comes from prosthodontics, conservative dentistry and periodontology. You will develop an understanding of the theoretical concepts associated with the preservation of teeth and the rehabilitation of mouths with missing teeth. The principles of surgery are taught as they relate to the extraction of teeth.

In the third year you spend most of the week providing dental care for patients. You will continue to learn about and carry out more advanced precedures in restorative dentistry. During this year a major course in periodontology is provided to give you a strong foundation in the subject. You will be introduced to the operative procedures in the provision of implant dentistry.

Time is also spent in the clinic on the Denmark Hill Campus providing comprehensive care to adult patients. This will continue in year four. This is an opportunity to treat patients from a different demographic area than that of the main campus.

As you become more proficient at extracting teeth, patients will be treated under conscious sedation.

Learning continues in the human disease strand of the curriculum and you are introduced to an ongoing course in oral disease that will incoporate pathology and medicine directly relevant to disease in and around the mouth. You will be able to treat many patients with more complex medical problems during this year, with specialist teachers on hand to guide you.

As you are now more proficient in dealing with and treating patients, in this year you will begin the provision of dental care for children. This will include learning about orthodontics.

The final year of the programme is very much a consolidation year of all you have learned up to this time. You will continue to provide comprehensive dental care for adult and child patients. A unique feature of this programme is the opportunity to work on a regular basis at purpose-built clinics distant from the main campus. At these you will work directly with a dental nurse and other professionals complementary to dentistry, in particular hygienists, learning to work as a team leader in provision of dental care for your patients.

There is an opportunity each week to spend some time learning about a chosen topic to allow you to develop knowledge of an area in even greater detail than covered in the normal programme. This could include any area in dentistry and there is also the opportunity to learn a new language through the Modern Language Centre at King's.

The final year is designed to allow you to develop as a dentist and to ease the transition, upon qualification, into vocational training and general dental pratice. It also offers the opportunity to flavour the specialist areas of dentistry that may encourage you to specialise after a period of general professional training.