Cardiff University - School of Dentistry

This is the only Dental School located in Wales and provides significant leadership in dental teaching, research and patient care within the Principality.
Dental teaching and research is centred within the University Dental Hospital on the Heath Park site. The Hospital was built in the mid 1960s and the first group of dental undergraduates qualified in 1968. There are currently over 290 registered students pursuing the degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery and a further 33 students studying for diplomas in Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy. In the 1997 Teaching Quality Assurance exercise, the provision of teaching within the School was rated as excellent
The teaching of Dentistry is shared between the Dental School and Cardiff School of Biosciences. The Pre-Dental and Pre-Clinical years of the course are completed at Cardiff School of Biosciences while the remaining four years of largely clinical training are undertaken at the Dental School. Practical instruction occurs both on clinics and within the laboratories. There are modern dental operating areas and a number of laboratories to support the treatment of patients. Two clinics have been developed within the Hospital which allow for students to practise several clinical disciplines under conditions approximating dental practice. On qualification, students automatically gain dental registration with the General Dental Council and usually pursue further, vocational training. The School also trains Professional Complementary to Dentistry and runs taught Masters, MPhil and PhD degrees across all dental disciplines.
A variety of teaching methods are utilised to ensure that our Dental students are well-equipped to face the challenges of clinical practice in the 21st century. At present the new undergraduate curriculum is being implemented which will further enhance the implementation of innovative and relevant methods of learning and teaching. Similarly, students are exposed to a wide range of teaching locations such as community outreach clinics, Dental Practitioners' surgeries and Oral Surgery units within District General Hospitals. The Dental School in Cardiff was also the first in the UK to introduce the concept of an undergraduate elective period; our students are required to undertake an original research project and are encouraged to undertake this project overseas. The School is also actively involved in the Erasmus exchange programme at undergraduate and postgraduate level and has formal links with institutions sited in Sweden, the Netherlands and Italy amongst others.
The Dental School is divided into three main Departments: Adult Dental Health, Dental Health & Biological Sciences and Oral Surgery, Medicine and Pathology. Further details about the structure and organisation of the Cardiff School of Biosciences is available on their individual web pages.
Heath Park
Cardiff
CF14 4XY
Tel: 029 2074 2469