Dental treatment
Information for dental practitioners and patients about treatment offered by the school.
Information for dental practitioners
Bristol Dental School has established a clinical dental facility with a sole purpose to support dental education. We do not hold an NHS contract to deliver dental services, however we may accept a limited number of patients to support the delivery of dental education.
Treatment needs must meet the training requirements of undergraduate student training for dentists or hygiene/therapy students. Recruitment for patients will be on that basis only. This means that some types of dental treatment may not be provided at the new dental school. We have published patient acceptance criteria.
We are unable to accept walk-in patients, or offer a specialist advice service to practitioners.
Acceptance criteria
Current status of acceptance:
- Periodontal - We are accepting referrals from Dentists for patients who meet our acceptance criterial: Periodontology GDP referral form (PDF, 232kB)
- Endodontics - We are accepting referrals from Dentists for patients who meet our acceptance criterial: Endodontic GDP referral form (PDF, 238kB)
- Fixed & Removable Prosthodontics - We are accepting referrals from Dentists for patients who meet our acceptance criterial: Prosthetics GDP referral form (PDF, 222kB)
- Paediatric Dentistry - We are accepting referrals from Dentists for patients who meet our acceptance criterial: Paediatric GDP referral form (PDF, 174kB)
- General restorative - not currently accepting
Shared care principles
Bristol Dental School moved to 1 Trinity Quay on Avon Street this autumn. The University of Bristol has been training undergraduate dental students since 1906. This was initially on the site of the Bristol Royal Infirmary. The previous school site opened in 1939 on Lower Maudlin Street as part of the NHS University Hospitals Foundations Trust Dental Hospital. The site at South Bristol Community Hospital was opened in 2014.
Much has changed over the years with dental training requirements and research, alongside increased dental student numbers. The University has invested in the Temple Quarter site to ensure that our facilities meet the training needs of the future dental workforce.
The aim of the new school is to focus on clinical training for dental undergraduates to meet the standards set out by the GDC learning outcomes Preparing for Practice. In the undergraduate training pathway, there is a delicate balance between provision of dental health care and the achievement of sufficient clinical technical experience to support Preparing for Practice.
The new school will not hold a formal NHS provider contract for the delivery of Dental Health Care. Funding for the clinical care undertaken by the undergraduates will be supported by the Dental Undergraduate Tariff (DUT).
This will provide the dental school with the flexibility to explore different models of patient recruitment to not only facilitate patient access for treatment but also supports the requirements of the stages for undergraduate clinical training and experience.
One of the models is the concept of shared care with colleagues in Primary Dental Care. We're seeking to develop this concept, looking to optimise the undergraduate experience, the patient experience and strengthened collaboration with general practice.
To achieve this model, we'll be working with primary care colleagues to develop patient pathways together with defined clinical acceptance criteria over the coming months. We recognise that involvement of users in the design of new interventions to strengthen end-user value and sustainability is key.
Information for patients
Bristol Dental School is a clinical training and education facility. We do not hold an NHS contract to deliver dental services, however we may accept a limited number of patients to support the delivery of dental education.
Treatment needs must meet the training requirements of undergraduate student training for dentists or hygiene/therapy students. Recruitment for patients will be on that basis only. This means that some types of dental treatment may not be provided at the new dental school.
You must only attend Bristol Dental School if you have a pre-booked appointment. We are unable to see or treat walk-in patients, or patients out of hours. For access to emergency dental services please contact NHS 111.
If you have any questions, please contact our patient administrators:
Email: student-treatments@bristol.ac.uk
Phone: 0117 374 6647
Opening hours
We do not usually operate outside of term times or during assessment periods. Our usual term time opening hours are:
- Monday 9 am to 5 pm
- Tuesday 9 am to 5 pm
- Wednesday 9 am to 12:30 pm
- Thursday 9 am to 5 pm
- Friday 9 am to 5 pm
How to become a patient
Due to overwhelming demand we have temporarily stopped accepting expressions of interest to volunteer for an assessment of suitability for student treatment.
If you have previously completed our expression of interest form, we'll be in touch with you soon when our patient administration system goes live.
If you would like to volunteer, we will update this page when we are able to resume accepting new patient volunteers.