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Paediatric Dentistry DDent

London, Bloomsbury

The DDent in Paediatric Dentistry is a three-year, full-time programme providing comprehensive training in paediatric dentistry. We deliver a mix of clinical and academic experience that prepares you for the challenges of modern clinical life that you will face in your future career.

UK students International students
Study mode
Full-time
UK tuition fees (2026/27)
£21,500
Overseas tuition fees (2026/27)
£68,800
Duration
3 academic years
Programme starts
September 2026
Applications accepted
All applicants: 20 Oct 2025 – 30 Jan 2026

Applications closed

Entry requirements

Applicants must hold an approved dental qualification and have a minimum of two years' clinical experience post-qualification.

The English language level for this course is: Level 2

UCL Pre-Master's and Pre-sessional English courses are for international students who are aiming to study for a postgraduate degree at UCL. The courses will develop your academic English and academic skills required to succeed at postgraduate level.

Further information can be found on our English language requirements page.

Equivalent qualifications

Country-specific information, including details of when UCL representatives are visiting your part of the world, can be obtained from the International Students website.

International applicants can find out the equivalent qualification for their country by selecting from the list below. Please note that the equivalency will correspond to the broad UK degree classification stated on this page (e.g. upper second-class). Where a specific overall percentage is required in the UK qualification, the international equivalency will be higher than that stated below. Please contact Graduate Admissions should you require further advice.

About this degree


This three-year full-time professional doctorate programme is for dentists wanting to train to specialist level and combines specialist-level clinical practice with doctorate-level research.

The clinical component is delivered at University College Hospital, one of the UK's leading hospital trusts. You will benefit from excellent facilities during your time on the programme.

Students are exposed to a wide range of clinical techniques including inhalation sedation, management of dental trauma, dental anomalies, and treatment under general anaesthetic. Clinical teaching is supported by a large consultant team, so you get good access to expert support.

The programme is taught through both specialist-level clinical practice and doctorate-level research.

Who this course is for

This programme will suit dentists at two years post-qualification with an interest in Paediatric Dentistry who want to significantly advance their skills.

Some of our students have previously taken the Tricollegiate MPaedDent exam. Please note that the MPaedDent has been replaced with the Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations (DSFE). One of the requirements for DSFE is that applicants must have the MFDS.

Applicants for September 2026, who separately wish to sit DSFE, will therefore be required to:

  • Already have the full MFDS qualification

    Or

  • Be prepared to sit the MFDS examination during the programme. Please note that it will be demanding to do this at the same time as undertaking a DDent qualification. It is also important to note that if you were not successful in this, you would not be able to sit the Royal College of Surgeons DFSE. This would be a Royal College of Surgeons decision, and UCL would not have any way of influencing that decision.

Read about what it takes to become a UCL graduate research student

What this course will give you

This programme offers you the following benefits and opportunities:

  • The professional doctorate prepares students for the challenges of modern clinical life with its mix of specialist level training and doctorate level research
  • A high proportion of sessions with direct patient contact
  • Small teaching sizes to give you plenty of support
  • Excellent facilities offered by the unit, which has expertise in caring for young patients with behaviour problems, dental trauma, anomalies, and medical conditions
  • Face-to-face teaching in small groups, supplemented by an extensive online resource of material developed specifically for this course
Find out how your research could have an impact

The foundation of your career

The programme offers the combination of doctorate level research and specialist level clinical skills needed for future leaders of the paediatric dentistry profession.

According to the HESA Graduate Outcomes survey (2018-2022), all DDent Paediatric Dentistry graduates who responded were in highly skilled roles.

Employability

This programme supports students in applying for specialist status in their own countries. Our previous graduates are now employed in a wide range of posts, ranging from private practice to senior roles in hospital and academic dentistry.

According to the HESA Graduate Outcomes survey (2018-2022), DDent Paediatric Dentistry graduates are acting as dental practitioners in settings including government ministries or the Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children.

Networking

Students are encouraged to attend and contribute to conferences in the UK and internationally. The institute also hosts a variety of speakers throughout the year, and all students are encouraged to attend these talks and network with their peers.

Teaching and learning

The doctorate is a mix of structured modular teaching, clinical work, and research. We use a mix of lectures, small group teaching, and one-to-one teaching in clinical and laboratory settings. We teach in a blended format, with some elements delivered face-to-face and some online, using our virtual learning environment, Moodle. Workshops and laboratory work take place in new state-of-the-art pre-clinical and laboratory facilities.

The Paediatric Dentistry DDent programme uses both summative and formative assessments. For taught modules, you may be assessed by written papers, oral examinations, supervised clinical work, and by skills tests in the phantom head facilities.

This is a full-time programme. You will spend around half your time (c. 20 hrs per week) in clinic or taking part in clinic related activities. Clinic time is treatment of your patients with 3:1 or 4:1 supervision.

The rest of your time is spent on research (c. 10 hours per week), and teaching (c. 6 hours per week), which is formed of lectures and seminars. Seminars are usually 'flipped’ and done in small groups.

There is no formal teaching in the third year. You will continue to develop your clinical skills and complete your project. However, you continue to see patients throughout all three years of the programme.

Students also have the opportunity to access UCL facilities ‘out of hours’ including weekends and holidays during their period of registration. Students will have research meetings with their supervisors at least once per month.

Research areas and structure

The course is taught through both specialist-level clinical practice and doctorate-level research and meets the entry requirements for the Membership in Paediatric Dentistry examination.

Research environment

The UCL Eastman Dental Institute is the largest postgraduate dental school in Europe and has a reputation as one of the world’s leading academic centres for dentistry. You will join a community of 80-100 research students enrolled within the UCL Eastman Centre for Postgraduate Research, a virtual body for research students within the UCL Eastman Dental Institute.

You will engage in research from the first term, where you will be allocated your project. This research project runs throughout the entire three years and progress is monitored by regular meetings with supervisors and through presentation of an upgrade report halfway through the programme.

Research topics could either be lab or clinic based. Lab-based studies are usually carried out at the Royal Free Campus. You are expected to present data from the project at an international research conference in the third year.

The doctorate is a mix of structured modular teaching (mostly delivered in the first two years), clinical work and research.

You will take 11 compulsory taught modules and the doctoral research project.

Year 1

  • Clinical Science and Research Methods
  • Principles of Treatment
  • Clinical Care Core Course
  • Behaviour Management
  • Restorative Dentistry for Children & Adolescents
  • Trauma
  • Paediatric Dentistry Advanced Clinical Care 1
  • Paediatric Dentistry Advanced Clinical Care 2

Year 2

  • Managing the Developing Child
  • Special Care Dentistry for the Child & Adolescent
  • Paediatric Dentistry Advanced Clinical Care

Year 3

  • DDent in Paediatric Dentistry Project (55,000 words)

There is no formal teaching in the third year. You will be expected to continue to develop your clinical skills as well as completing your research and writing up the Quality Improvement project that you start in the second year. Students continue to see patients throughout all three years of the programme.

Compulsory modules














Please note that the list of modules given here is indicative. This information is published a long time in advance of enrolment and module content and availability are subject to change. Modules that are in use for the current academic year are linked for further information. Where no link is present, further information is not yet available.

Accessibility

The department will endeavour to make reasonable adjustments for students with disabilities, including those with long-term health conditions, neurodivergence, learning differences and mental health conditions. This list is not exhaustive. If you're unsure of your eligibility for reasonable adjustments at UCL, please contact Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

Reasonable adjustments are implemented on a case-by-case basis. With the student's consent, reasonable adjustments are considered by UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services, and where required, in collaboration with the respective department.

Details of the accessibility of UCL buildings can be obtained from AccessAble. Further information about support available can be obtained from UCL Student Support and Wellbeing Services.

For more information about the department and accessibility arrangements for your course, please contact the department.


Fees and funding

Fees for this course

UK students International students
Fee description Full-time
Tuition fees (2026/27) £21,500
Tuition fees (2026/27) £68,800

Postgraduate Taught students benefit from a cohort guarantee, meaning that their tuition fees will not increase during the course of the programme, but UCL reserves the right to increase tuition fees to reflect any sums (including levies, taxes, or similar financial charges) that UCL is required to pay any governmental authority in connection with tuition fees.

The tuition fees shown are for the year indicated above. Where the course is offered on a flexible/modular basis, fees are charged pro-rata to the appropriate full-time Master's fee taken in an academic session. Further information on fee status, fee increases and the fee schedule can be viewed on the UCL Students website: ucl.ac.uk/students/fees.

Additional costs

Attendance and participation at either a local or international conference is strongly encouraged at least once throughout the programme, though you will face some of the associated costs (i.e. registration, travel, shared accommodation for two or three nights). This might be approximately £1,000 on average, depending on the destination. 

If presenting UCL research at a conference, you will most likely get a stipend of £500 from the programme and may be eligible to apply for the Eastman Conference fund.

This course requires a completed DBS check for some compulsory modules. You will receive more information from UCL on how to complete the check once you have firmly accepted an unconditional offer for the programme. A charge for Post Office ID verification (£15.00) needed for an application to the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) is payable by the student. The cost of the DBS check itself is paid for by UCL.

If you have lived, worked, studied or travelled in any single country outside of the UK for six continuous months or more, in the last five years, you will be required to obtain a Certificate of Good Conduct/Police Check from the relevant country/countries. The cost of this check varies by country and is payable by the student. More information on how to obtain these can be found on gov.uk.

For more information about the DBS application process, please contact the UCL Graduate Admissions team.

For in-person teaching, UCL’s main teaching locations are in zones 1 (Bloomsbury) and zones 2/3 (UCL East). The cost of a monthly 18+ Oyster travel card for zones 1-2 is £119.90. This price was published by TfL in 2025. For more information on additional costs for prospective students and the cost of living in London, please view our estimated cost of essential expenditure at UCL's cost of living guide.

Funding your studies

For a comprehensive list of the funding opportunities available at UCL, including funding relevant to your nationality, please visit the Scholarships and Funding website.

See all the ways you can fund your studies

Next steps

When we assess your application, we would like to learn:

  • why you want to study the DDent programme at UCL
  • what particularly attracts you to the chosen programme
  • how your academic, professional and personal background meets the demands of the programme
  • where you would like to go professionally with your degree.

Together with essential academic requirements, the personal statement is your opportunity to illustrate whether your reasons for applying to this programme match what the programme will deliver.

Some of our applicants submit their own research proposals. If you wish to do so, please make sure that first you identify a suitable supervisor with the correct expertise. If you are unsure, please contact EDI Admissions.

Successful applicants to this programme will be required to pay a tuition fee deposit dependent on their mode of study and fee status.

Please note that you may submit applications for a maximum of two graduate courses (or one application for the Law LLM) in any application cycle.

Got questions? Get in touch

Eastman Dental Institute
Eastman Dental Institute

edi-admissions@ucl.ac.uk

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