General patient criteria

Since academic teaching is the primary aim, we are looking for people who meet the following criteria:

• Can commit to multiple appointments, some of which may take up to 3 hours.
• Can be flexible to attend on different days of the week, and able to attend the Dental School.
• Have dental needs that can be managed in a primary care setting.
• Are reasonably healthy (See ASA reference table in the Bristol Dental School patient acceptance criteria (PDF, 307kB) document):
  • ASA 1: Clinically healthy.
  • ASA 2: Mild systemic disease without significant functional limitation.
  • Some ASA 3: Severe systemic disease with significant functional limitation – clinical discretion advised.
• Ambulatory and can transfer to a dental chair and are under the recommended weight limit for the dental chair.
• Non-ambulatory, but can accept treatment safely in a wheelchair in a dental cubicle or be transferred to a dental chair using accepted transfer aids.
• Are willing to have various aspects of their dental needs cared for by different students concurrently, under the supervision of qualified staff

This means we cannot accept patients who:

• Are unable to accept routine dental treatment under local anaesthetic, for example dental anxiety or phobia which prevents treatment under local anaesthetic alone.
• Experience behavioural / personality disorders or communication difficulties which would otherwise require a referral to a Community or Special Care Dentistry service.
• Have a complex medical history (ASA III, IV, or V) which may contraindicate treatment with dental students.
• Require complex or specialist level dental treatment, for example severe malocclusion, deep bite, insufficient occlusal clearance or insufficient opening, severe wear, occlusal rehabilitation.
• Require purely cosmetic dental treatment, for example tooth whitening, dental veneers or dental bonding.

There will be a zero tolerance of aggression from patients, parents/guardians or carers.

Waiting list capacity

Please note, we are not providing a contracted service in the Dental School, and therefore reserve the right to suspend acceptance for particular treatment needs where we are oversubscribed with patients.

Further information

The following are included in the Bristol Dental School patient acceptance criteria (PDF, 307kB) document:

• ASA classification.
• Pathway-specific criteria: Urgent dental care, Oral surgery, Restorative, Periodontology specific criteria, Paediatric, Orthodontic.