• Acceptance for treatment
• Interpretation/Translation Services
• What to expect with student appointments
• Waiting lists
• Attendance
• Emergency care whilst your are a patient with us
• Our expectations of patients
• What happens after treatment has finished

Acceptance for treatment

The sole purpose of Bristol Dental School is to train dental professionals. Bristol Dental School is not an NHS Dental Service, and as such only recruits patients to support clinical training. 

Patient treatment needs must meet the training requirements of our students, and Bristol Dental School has defined acceptance criteria that have been developed by clinical academic staff. Recruitment for patients will be on that basis only and means that some types of dental treatment may not be provided at Bristol Dental School.

We may also temporarily stop accepting new patients where we have sufficient patients to train our students. 

Where you are offered an assessment appointment you will have a brief examination, based on which we will advise you whether we are able to offer you treatment provided by a dental student. The decision on whether to accept you for treatment is made by a dentally qualified member of staff.

If you meet our clinical acceptance criteria, you will also need to be available for lengthy appointment times (sometimes up to 3 hours). 

Appointments are only available based on the student timetable and so will be on fixed days and times throughout the week (Monday – Friday, 9am – 5pm), during our student term time only. If you do not have flexibility to commit to appointments on fixed days/times we will be unable to accept you for treatment. 

Please note that not everyone is suitable for the programme, so you may be advised to find your own Dentist. If we are unable to accept you for treatment, we will explain why. You will however need to find your own Dentist and we are unable to make referrals or recommendations. 

Interpretation/Translation Services

The Dental School will make all possible efforts to ensure effective communication with patients. This includes arrangements to meet patients’ communication needs in languages other than English. 

Patients will be asked about their language requirements and communication needs at registration. This will be indicated clearly in their patient record.

This will include: 

• Language requirements, language preferences and communication needs
• Preference regarding gender of interpreter (if they wish to express one)
• Cultural identity where this is relevant to the provision of interpreting. 

The Dental School has access to Language and BSL Interpretation Services. This may require that we have to pre-book services and will discuss the arrangements with you when making your appointments. 

If you require any document in another language, please ask. 

What to expect with student appointments

Students only work on certain days and times during the week, usually Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday. Our clinical sessions usually run between 09:00-12:30 and 13:30 – 17:00. The student timetable may be subject to change. There is no treatment by students during student holidays. 

Due to the nature of the student timetable, we cannot rearrange appointments to different days and times other than those offered to you. 

All students are closely supervised by qualified staff, and their work is subject to regular checks. The treatment provided will take longer than it would at your own dentist. However, the treatment is provided free of charge to you.

If your treatment has not been completed by the time your student qualifies, another student will complete your treatment. This will be explained to you at the time. 

Patients are asked not to bring family and friends to the clinic because of the size of the clinical bays and the need for the students, their assistants, nurses, and supervisors to supervise. If you have any concerns about this, please speak to a member of staff. Bristol Dental School has a Chaperoning policy.

Waiting lists

If you are accepted for treatment by dental students, your name will be placed on a waiting list. 

The length of time that you will wait for treatment will depend on the time of year you are added to the waiting list, the number of students, and the number of patients currently being treated. Every effort is made to keep waiting times to a minimum and we may temporarily stop accepting new patients to maintain reasonable waiting times.

Attendance

It is important that you attend your appointments. In line with our Patient Access and Failure to Attend policy, if a patient fails to attend or fails to give sufficient notice to cancel on more than 2 occasions in a 12 month period, they will be denied any further appointments and will be required to find an alternative dental provider. 

If you are finding it difficult to attend appointments due to personal difficulties, please let us know as soon as possible. 

Bristol Dental School is not able to reimburse travel costs. 

Emergency care whilst you are a patient with us

If you are currently undergoing dental treatment provided by students and have a dental emergency, an appointment can be provided excluding bank holidays, weekends or out-of-hours, in which case you will need to contact NHS 111 for an Urgent Dental Care appointment. 

Normally this treatment will be carried out by a different student to the one that you normally see. 

There is no charge for this service. 

Our expectations of patients (Patient Charter)

In line with our Terms & Conditions:

• You must treat staff, students and other patients with respect and recognise that discrimination, violence, or the causing of nuisance or disturbance on our premises, could result in you being refused access to our buildings and discharged from our care. Bristol Dental School has a Zero Tolerance Policy.
• You must provide accurate information about your health, condition and status.
• Please follow the course of treatment which you have agreed and talk to your clinician if you find this difficult.
• Please participate in important public health programmes such as vaccinations.
• Please give feedback – both positive and negative – about your experiences and the treatment and care you have received, including any adverse reactions you may have had. You can often provide feedback anonymously and giving feedback will not affect adversely your care or how you are treated. If a family member or someone you are a carer for is a patient and unable to provide feedback, you are encouraged to give feedback about their experiences on their behalf. Feedback will help to improve our services for all. We will provide you with a link to our feedback system. Failure to engage with treatment plans may lead to you being discharged from our care. 

What happens after treatment

When your course of treatment is finished, you will be advised to return to your own dentist who will look after any other dental care needs including routine check- ups. If you do not have your own Dentist, the NHS Choices site can help you find a dentist in your area: 

Find services near you - NHS