Work experience is essential to dental school applications. If you’re thinking of applying to dental school, our free online dentistry work experience will be a great place to start. Join our interactive online session designed for aspiring dentists. Explore real patient scenarios, learn about the dental career pathway, and gain valuable insights into the skills needed to thrive in dentistry. We’ll be running 3 interactive sessions covering different specialties. The aims of this work experience program are as follows:
- To provide students with a realistic understanding of the working life of a dentist
- To provide vast experiences to reflect on for dentistry personal statements and interviews.
- To increase students’ understanding of each specialty covered
- To learn the realities of dentistry in both primary and secondary care
- To take part in interactive role plays on professionalism, confidentiality, and communication
By the end of the programme, you will have a much clearer understanding of the different specialties within dentistry, as well as insight into the skills and professionalism required in dental practice. You’ll also gain experiences you can confidently reflect on in your personal statement and interviews. All participants will have the opportunity to complete an end-of-programme knowledge test, and those who achieve an 80% pass mark will be awarded a certificate of completion.
Why is work experience important?
Work experience is vital for aspiring dentists as it provides first-hand exposure to dental practices and clinics. This experience allows you to apply classroom knowledge to real-life patient scenarios, developing essential clinical insight and an understanding of how oral healthcare is delivered. It also helps you strengthen key qualities such as professionalism, manual dexterity, communication, and empathy; all of which are crucial for providing safe, effective, and patient-centred dental care.
Furthermore, dentistry work experience will enable you explore various dental specialties and career paths, guiding your future decisions and choice of training. It also provides networking opportunities, allowing you build relationships with professionals in the field and access mentorship and career advancement opportunities. Essentially, work experience plays a vital role in preparing you for the challenges and responsibilities of practicing dentistry ethically and competently.
What skills will I learn?
You will develop essential clinical skills for dental care. These include taking patient histories, carrying out oral examinations, interpreting diagnostic tools such as X-rays, and maintaining accurate dental records and treatment notes.
Engaging in discussions with peers and dental professionals will strengthen your verbal communication skills, which are essential for explaining treatment options, giving oral health advice, and building trust with patients.
Working through dental cases during the online work experience will help you think more critically, a key skill for spotting problems and deciding the best way to treat patients.
You will gain more understanding of dental practice from the sessions, including an insight into the healthcare system, relevant dental concepts and terminologies from each work experience
Taking part in the work experience will help you build professionalism. From learning how to interact with patients respectfully, to understanding confidentiality and the importance of acting ethically as a future dentist
Who can apply?
Our work experience programme is primarily designed for students interested in applying to dental school, with most attendees aged 16–18. The programme is also open to:
- Applicants on a gap year
- Post-graduate applicants exploring dentistry
- Students under 16, provided they have explicit parental consent
There are no other prerequisites; anyone curious about a future career in dentistry is welcome to join our virtual work experience.
Dentistry Work Experience Schedule
| Time | Activity |
|---|---|
| 6:00 – 6:15 | Introduction – What Dentistry is like in Primary vs Secondary Care |
| 6:15 – 6:30 | Overview – Specialties & Training Pathways in Dentistry |
| 6:30 – 6:45 | Case 1: Confidentiality (Role Play) |
| 6:45 – 7:15 | Case 2: Breaking Bad News (Role Play) |
| 7:15 – 7:45 | Case 3: Professionalism (Role Play) |
| 7:45 – 8:00 | Q&A and Closing Remarks |
Case 1: Confidentiality
In this interactive session, you’ll explore how dentists handle sensitive patient information. Through role-play, you’ll practice maintaining confidentiality, understand when and how to share information appropriately, and learn why protecting patient privacy is a key part of professional dental practice.
Case 2: Breaking Bad News
Learn how to communicate difficult information to patients in a sensitive and professional way. Through role-play, you’ll practice techniques for delivering news about diagnoses or treatment complications, while showing empathy and maintaining patient trust.
Case 3: Professionalism
This session focuses on the behaviours and attitudes expected of dental professionals. Through interactive scenarios, you’ll practice teamwork, ethical decision-making, and effective communication, all of which are essential for building trust and providing excellent patient care..
End of Programme Test
Upon completion of all 4 sessions of the work experience, you need to take the test for the work experience. A certificate of completion will be issued to you if you score 80% or more on the test. Date for the test will be announced soon.
Applying to medicine or dentistry in 2025? Check out our application packages which feature complete support for the UCAT, interviews and personal statements, as well as monthly Support & Progress meetings with our admissions experts. We help 1000s of applicants each year, and we’d love to help you, too!
FAQs
Do you offer in-person dentistry work experience?
Not at the moment, but we’re working on it! In the meantime, if you’re interested in our in-person medicine work experience, check out our week-long residential medicine work experience in London, which also includes short-term, non-residential options.
Why should I take part in this free dentistry work experience?
If you’re interested in applying to dental school, gaining some form of work experience is crucial for your application. Students typically spend time shadowing dental professionals and then reflect on these experiences in their personal statement and interviews.
Our virtual dentistry work experience gives you insight into different aspects of dental practice in each session. Each session is interactive and hands-on, helping you develop transferable skills such as professionalism, communication, and clinical reasoning. All of which will make your dental school application stand out.
What if I can’t attend the work experience live sessions? Will there be recordings?
We highly recommend attending each session live, as the sessions are interactive and live attendance will allow maximal benefit. However, we do understand that students have other commitments. As such, the recording of the dentistry work experience session will be uploaded directly on our website for viewing.
Will I receive a certificate of participation for the work experience?
There will be an end of programme knowledge test with a pass mark of 80%. All students who achieve the pass mark will receive a certificate to demonstrate successful completion of their dental work experience.
What age group is the dentistry work experience programme suitable for?
We recommend our work experience programme for anyone who is 14 and older. It is especially suitable for students planning to apply to dental school for entry in 2026. However, we’re happy for those considering applying in later years to also attend.
How old do I have to be to participate in the programme?
Most hospitals will only accept students who are at least 16 years of age for work experience. However, younger applicants from 14+ are more than welcome to participate in our virtual dentistry work experience.
What safeguarding measures are in place during the programme?
Please see our safeguarding policy for more information.
What other support do you offer for dental school applications?
We offer complete support for dentistry applications. If you’d like support with the full dental application process, from A-Z, with regular advice and feedback from our admissions experts, our medicine and dentistry application packages might be best for you. We can also support you through our UCAT live course and tutoring services, which include our best-selling UCAT book. Attend our live personal statement course and request reviews or tutoring to write your truest personal statement. To ace your interviews, take our live interview course, including mock circuits, and university-specific interview tutoring.
