Dentists are also known as dental surgeons and they practice the area of medicine involved and concerned with the mouth—the ‘oral cavity’. They diagnose and treat oral illness and diseases, as well as perform surgeries on more severe cases. Most dentists in Cheshire, or any other city and town, have to go through years of training before they can be fully qualified to treat any patients. Firstly, they will need to do a full degree in dental education, which includes the standard five year academic, theoretical and practical training in every aspect of dentistry. They also learn clinical skills, but the standard and requirements to even get into dental school are extremely high.
You can enroll in accelerated course, which last only four years, but they are generally only recommended for people who have a natural aptitude for dentistry as well as a graduate degree of 2:1 or higher. The Postgraduate training involves the dental vocational side of the training—the DTF—Dental Foundation Training. This is the area of primary care that most dentists offer to the general public before any specialist services or training. This section of the training can be integrated within the dental foundation program.
The second stage of the dental training includes training for those who wish to work in other kinds of dental services, such as orthodontics, oral medicine, restorative dentistry and so on. This includes working in hospitals and specialist environments.
Completion and Registration
After a new dentist has successfully completed their undergraduate and post graduate dentistry education they must register with the GDC—the General Dental Council and undertake constant CPD—continuing personal development—training throughout their entire career. This involves learning new and emerging techniques, new rules, laws and practices and following the constant changes in the profession. Once the dentists are fully qualified they can then look at specialist areas of dentistry and decide if they wish to pursue a specialist career in another area or stay with the primary care field. Many dentists work for the NHS but also have a private practice. There is no specific rule that states a dentist must undertake NHS work, but most of them choose to do it as a service to the public.
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