Text 1. Dental course in Great Britain.

In the United Kingdom, there is a five-year course of undergraduate study before obtaining a B.D.S. degree. After graduating most dentists will enter a V.T. (vocational training) scheme, of either 1 or 2 years length, to receive their full registration. In the UK a dentist must register with the G.D.C. (General Dental Council), and meet their requirements as the governing body of the profession, before being allowed to practice.

One who wants to be a dentist has to take a course which leads to the degree of Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). The first step is to pass examinations for the General Certificate of Education at ordinary and advanced level.

To enter a dental school an applicant must have high grades in chemistry, physics, biology, special skills (for example, manual dexterity), some practical experience (at least one week of assisting for dental hospital or laboratory).

The curricular in all dental schools is quite similar, but the internal structure can vary to a great extend. Still the general trend is for the integration of clinical elements with basic medical sciences in the early terms of the course. In some dental schools students make their first contacts with patients during the first weeks of the first year.

In the pre-clinical years dental students get knowledge in basic sciences, such as anatomy, molecular biology, biochemistry and physiology. Special attention is paid to the dental area and its role in the organism. In the second year the course in oral biology is integrated with the study of oral pathology. Students can start serious clinical studies in dentistry only after passing examinations in anatomy, biochemistry and physiology.

On the clinical stage the teaching of general pathology and surgery is combined with courses on general human diseases and pharmacology. Orthodontics, Prosthetics, Children’s Dentistry and Conservative Dentistry are studied beginning with the third year. In this way students are introduced to the principles of dental practice and get ready for practical training at dental hospitals and clinics. Before starting to work with patients students are taught technique on phantom heads. During the last three years future dentists work in different departments of dental hospitals and also get basic instruction in the associated clinical and scientific disciplines.

Assessment of knowledge at the end of each year includes written, clinical and oral examinations. In recent years the Department of Health has introduced a compulsory postgraduate vocational training scheme. After graduating most dentists will enter a vocational training scheme, of either 1 or 2 years length, to receive their full registration. In this scheme new graduates spend time in approved general dental practices, trained by selected general dental practitioners (GDPs). In the UK a dentist must register with the G.D.C. (General Dental Council), and meet their requirements as the governing body of the profession, before being allowed to practice.