Dental Public Health is a non-clinical specialty involving the science and art of preventing oral diseases, promoting oral health to the population rather than the individual.
About Dental Public Health
Dental Public Health specialists work to protect and secure the oral health of communities and populations rather than at an individual patient level.
Speciality practice includes the critical evaluation of oral health care services, working to ensure quality, and that services meet population needs and are equitably distributed.
Activities are undertaken to reduce oral health inequalities through both targeted and universal public health programmes.
The speciality has a unique role in health protection for the delivery of dental services, providing the evidence base to ensure that services are delivered safely to all patient groups.
Important: Eligibility for Specialty Training
Most dentists will have completed at least 1 year of Dental Core Training (DCT) before applying to Specialty Training. By the time you're appointed to a Specialty Training post, you must have completed DCT2 or equivalent (as demonstrated by National Certificate of Dental Core Equivalence (NCDCE)).
Applicants must be registered with the General Dental Council (GDC) prior to post commencement.
Why undertake Specialty Training?
While most dental graduates look forward to a career providing a full range of oral health care to patients in general dental practice, many have an interest in a specific aspect of dentistry.
Dentists can achieve specialist status by gaining entry to one of the Speciality Training programmes.
Non-urgent advice: Dental Public Health curriculum
The content of the curriculum was developed by Specialty Advisory Committees who report to the relevant Dental Faculties of the Royal Colleges.
View the Dental Public Health curriculum on the GDC's website.
Salaries for specialty trainees
Salaries for specialty trainees vary across the 4 nations of the UK.
For information about pay and conditions in England, go to NHS Employers.
For Northern Ireland, go to the Northern Ireland Department of Health.
For Scotland, go to the Scottish Government Health and Social Care Directorates (SGHSC).
For Wales, go to Health in Wales.
Page last reviewed: 22 December 2021