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    DClinDent
    2025 start September 

    Paediatric Dentistry

    School of Clinical Dentistry, Faculty of Health

    Become a dentist who provides outstanding oral care to children and young people. Graduates are eligible to sit the Royal Colleges’ Membership in Paediatric Dentistry exam.
    older child at dentist

    Course description

    This course is for dentists who want to develop the knowledge, skills, experience and confidence to provide effective oral care for children and adolescents. After completing the course, you will be eligible to sit the tri-collegiate Membership in Paediatric Dentistry (MPaed Dent) exam with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    In the first year, you will study the fundamentals of paediatric dentistry, such as diagnosing and managing patients with dental trauma and anomalies, prevention strategies, and treatments for tooth decay.  You will develop new practical skills in clinical training sessions, attend consultant clinics and case discussions, explore issues in dental public health, and study the latest advances in digital dentistry and dental manufacturing.

    The course also covers topics including dentoalveolar surgery, oral and maxillofacial surgery, restorative dentistry, orthodontics, and non-pharmacological behaviour management techniques for children and adolescents. By the end of the third year, you will have the skills to complete paediatric dentistry treatments independently and successfully – from obtaining a comprehensive patient history to planning and providing treatments based on the latest research, and communicating with your patients and their parents.

    Because dental specialists work in a multidisciplinary environment, there will be opportunities to work with students and trainees from other areas. You will learn how to communicate clearly and professionally with specialists and non-specialists.

    You will work on your research project throughout the course, starting with a literature review in the first year. In the second year, you will complete research methods and statistics training, and in the third year, you will produce a thesis of a standard that could be submitted to a scientific journal.

    Accreditation

    Candidates who are awarded the University of Sheffield’s DClinDent Paediatric Dentistry qualification will be eligible to sit the tri-collegiate Membership in Paediatric Dentistry (MPaed Dent) exam with the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow and Royal College of Surgeons of England.

    Modules

    A selection of modules is available each year - some examples are below. There may be changes before you start your course. From May of the year of entry, formal programme regulations will be available in our Programme Regulations Finder.

    Research Methods in Clinical Dentistry

    Research methods are a key part of clinical dentistry. This unit will aim to introduce students to patient-centred research methods and will include evidence-based dentistry, critical appraisal, research governance and ethics, quantitative and qualitative research methods, statistical appraisal of research reports.

    15 credits
    Principles of Clinical Management

    This module introduces the basic concepts of clinical management of a patient including clinical governance, cross-infection control and radiology.

    15 credits
    Dental Public Health - Foundations and Theory

    Dental Public Health involves the application of generic public health principles to the field of oral health. This unit will consider the theory of dental public health including oral epidemiology, oral health promotion and public health planning of dental services. Specific topics to be considered include: epidemiology of, and trends in,oral diseases and conditions, patterns of care, the theory of dental health education and oral health promotion and models of delivering care. The unit aims to provide a foundation of knowledge that will be applied in the second Dental Public Health unit where its practical application will be explored.

    15 credits
    Dental Public Health - Application and Critique

    Dental public health involves preventing oral diseases, promoting oral health and improving quality of life through the organised efforts of society. The emphasis of the unit will be to develop students' analytical skills and application of theory to practical examples. This unit will cover health economics, screening, oral health promotion, international dental public health considerations and oral health needs assessment.

    15 credits
    Principles of Clinical Paediatric Dentistry I

    This module introduces the basic concepts of specialist paediatric practice, including diagnosis, treatment planning.

    15 credits
    Principles of Clinical Paediatric Dentistry II

    The aim of this module is to introduce the student to the more complex issues of specialist paediatric care, including inter-disciplinary management of patients.

    30 credits
    Paediatric Dentistry Case Studies

    This module will enable the student to have a deep understanding of Paediatric Dental Care planning and provision.

    15 credits
    Systematic Reviews and Evidence Synthesis: Principles Online

    The purpose of this unit is to enable students to understand the principles of systematic review. It covers the defining characteristics and application of systematic reviews; how to search for and select relevant evidence; how to quality assess primary research articles; the key issues that may generate bias; and the general principles governing evidence synthesis.

    15 credits
    Research Project Literature Review

    Research is key to the practice of clinical dentistry. This unit will introduce students to the background reading and critical appraisal of the literature related to their chosen project.

    30 credits
    Clinical Paediatric Dentistry Practice Programme I

    This module will provide the clinical experience to develop the key skills of a specialist in Paediatric Dentistry, including diagnosis, treatment planning and management of patients with trauma and dental anomalies. By the end of the module the student will be competent at obtaining a comprehensive patient history, communicating with patients and their parents about their treatment, providing appropriate preventative advice and restorative treatment for children with caries. The student will understand the principles of clinical paediatric dentistry problem solving and treatment planning.

    75 credits
    Clinical Paediatric Dentistry Practice Programme II

    This module will provide the clinical experience to further develop the key skills of a specialist in Paediatric Dentistry, including diagnosis, treatment planning and management of patients with trauma and dental anomalies. By the end of the module the student will be competent at obtaining a comprehensive patient history, communicating with patients and their parents about their treatment, providing appropriate preventative advice and restorative treatment for children with caries. The student will understand the principles of clinical paediatric dentistry problem solving and treatment planning.

    90 credits
    Clinical Paediatric Dentistry Practice Programme III

    This module will provide the clinical experience to achieve the key skills of a specialist in paediatric dentistry, including the diagnosis, treatment planning and management of patients who are medically compromised. By the end of the module the student will be proficient at all the tasks necessary for the successful completion of specialist paediatric dentistry treatment, including obtaining a comprehensive patient history, communicating with patients and their parents about treatment, providing treatment for children with dental caries, dental trauma and dental anomalies, as well as clinical paediatric problem solving and treatment planning.

    90 credits
    Introduction to Statistics and Critical Appraisal

    The unit introduces students to basic concepts and techniques such as hypothesis testing and confidence interval estimation in statistics. Students will learn some simple statistical methods and the principles behind some advanced methods such as regression. It will equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to understand and critically appraise statistics in research literature.The course is not aimed at 'doers' of statistics, that is, students who are going to design their own studies to collect and analyse their own data. It will not teach you how to analyse, present and report your own data.

    15 credits
    Paediatric Dentistry Thesis

    This unit will introduce students to the aspects of a research project involving data collection, analysis, interpretation and reporting in the form of a thesis. On completion, students will be able to appraise results and construct arguments. This project can involve clinical research, health services research, laboratory study or elements drawn from two or three of these.

    90 credits

    The content of our courses is reviewed annually to make sure it's up-to-date and relevant. Individual modules are occasionally updated or withdrawn. This is in response to discoveries through our world-leading research; funding changes; professional accreditation requirements; student or employer feedback; outcomes of reviews; and variations in staff or student numbers. In the event of any change we'll consult and inform students in good time and take reasonable steps to minimise disruption.

    Duration

    3 years full-time

    Teaching

    You will learn through lectures, tutorials, seminars, demonstrations, clinical skills laboratory sessions, case-based discussions and extensive practical clinical experience.

    Assessment

    You will be assessed through continuous competency-based clinical assessments, exams, patient case presentations, and your thesis.

    Entry requirements

    A university-accredited degree in dental surgery that enables the practice of dentistry.

    We also consider a wide range of international qualifications:

    Entry requirements for international students

    We assess each application on the basis of the applicant’s preparation and achievement as a whole. We may accept applicants whose qualifications don’t meet the published entry criteria but have other experience relevant to the course.

    The lists of required degree subjects and modules are indicative only.  Sometimes we may accept subjects or modules that aren’t listed, and sometimes we may not accept subjects or modules that are listed, depending on the content studied.

    English language requirements

    IELTS 7 (with 6.5 in each component) or University equivalent.

    Other requirements

    • You should have Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery (MFDS) or Membership of the Joint Dental Faculties (MJDS)
    • You should have at least two years of post-qualification experience in any sphere of restorative dentistry, including general dental practice.
    • You must also meet our health and Disclosure and Barring Service requirements for clinical courses. 

    If you have any questions about entry requirements, please contact the school/department.

    Fees and funding

    Additional costs

    The following costs aren't included in your course fees:

    • dissertation binding
    • essential textbooks
    • registration, travel and accommodation expenses for any external conferences and meetings
    • examination fees and related expenses for external examinations

    Apply

    You can apply now using our Postgraduate Online Application Form. It's a quick and easy process.

    Apply now

    Contact

    dentalpgtadmissions@sheffield.ac.uk
    +44 114 215 9318 or +44 114 215 9319

    Any supervisors and research areas listed are indicative and may change before the start of the course.

    Our student protection plan

    Recognition of professional qualifications: from 1 January 2021, in order to have any UK professional qualifications recognised for work in an EU country across a number of regulated and other professions you need to apply to the host country for recognition. Read information from the UK government and the EU Regulated Professions Database.