Super-Curricular Activities for Dentistry: Reading, Competitions and Projects

Admissions tutors reading a personal statement or conducting a multiple mini interview typically weigh evidence that an applicant understands what dentistry actually involves, day to day, beyond the popular image of straightening smiles, above a long list of activities. Reflection matters more than volume: a single week of work experience discussed with insight into consent, anxiety or manual dexterity tends to carry more weight than five undigested placements mentioned only in passing.

Super-curricular activity, in this context, means anything undertaken outside the compulsory curriculum that deepens a student's understanding of dentistry as a clinical, scientific and caring profession, whilst also demonstrating the manual and academic aptitude the course demands. Wide reading, subject competitions, structured courses, independent projects and periods of work experience or shadowing all count, provided the applicant can explain what each one taught them.

Reading around dentistry

Dentistry sits at the intersection of biology, materials science and patient care, so reading that ranges across all three tends to serve an application better than a narrow focus on clinical anecdote. Books that examine oral health as a public health issue, including inequality in access to dental care, help applicants place the profession within a wider social and ethical context that interviewers often probe.

Short, current articles read alongside longer books keep an applicant aware of live issues, such as changes to the NHS dental contract or debate over water fluoridation, which are more likely to come up at interview than settled history.

• Population-level oral health and inequality, useful for questions on NHS dental access
• The biology and materials science of teeth, showing scientific curiosity beyond A-level content
• Short journal articles, useful for current issues, less so for settled history.

Competitions and essay prizes

Subject-specific competitions in biology and chemistry, run nationally each year, give admissions tutors external evidence of academic strength that sits alongside predicted grades, whilst also rewarding the kind of independent problem solving a science-based clinical course requires. A strong result is worth mentioning briefly in a personal statement; the process of preparing for it, including any gaps in knowledge it exposed, is often more useful to discuss at interview.

Dentistry-specific essay prizes are relatively scarce, so applicants commonly enter essay and writing prizes run by professional and university bodies that welcome science-based entries, using the opportunity to research a topic such as fluoridation policy or the ethics of cosmetic dentistry in more depth than school work allows.

• British Biology Olympiad and the UK Chemistry Olympiad, for evidence of academic rigour
• Essay prizes run by universities and professional bodies open to science subjects
• A short written account of what preparing for a competition revealed, kept for interview

Lectures, courses and taster days

Free lectures and short online courses, whether run by a university outreach team, a royal college or a widening participation programme, let applicants sample topics that sit outside the school curriculum, such as dental public health or the materials science behind restorative work. Attending several over Year 12 tends to be more useful than a single one-off event, since it lets a student notice which aspects of the subject genuinely hold their attention.

• Taster days run by dental schools, usually bookable ahead of Year 13
• Virtual work experience and lecture programmes for widening access
• Recorded lecture series and webinars from royal colleges and dental societies

Projects and the EPQ

An Extended Project Qualification gives applicants a structured way to research a dentistry-related question in depth over several months, producing a piece of work an interviewer can ask about directly; a title framed as a question, such as one examining the evidence for water fluoridation, tends to generate a more focused essay than a broad survey of the history of dentistry. Where a school does not offer the EPQ, a self-directed project, written up and kept on file, can serve a similar purpose.

Whatever the format, the value lies chiefly in the applicant being able to explain what they read, what surprised them and what they would investigate next; the length of the finished document matters far less.

• A question-based title, such as evaluating the evidence for water fluoridation
• A self-directed project where the EPQ is not offered, written up with the same rigour
• A short record of sources and conclusions, kept for interview preparation

Work experience and clinical exposure

Placements in dental practices remain difficult to arrange in large numbers, so admissions tutors generally place more weight on what an applicant noticed and reflected on than on the number of days completed; observing a single extraction with attention to how the dentist managed a nervous patient offers more to write about than a week spent mostly in a waiting room.

Where clinical placements are not available, shadowing in a pharmacy, care home or hospital setting still demonstrates exposure to patient contact, communication under pressure and the realities of a caring profession.

• Contacting local practices directly, well before Year 13 applications open
• Virtual work experience programmes for dentistry and medicine
• Shadowing in a pharmacy, care home or hospital where clinical placements are unavailable

Societies and a Year 12 to Year 13 timeline

A school's medical or dentistry society, or a wider science society, gives applicants a regular structure for discussing current issues such as the sugar tax or NHS dental access, whilst also offering low-stakes practice at articulating an opinion out loud before an interview does the same under pressure. Where no such society exists, starting one, even informally with a handful of peers, tends to be viewed positively as evidence of initiative.

Spreading activity across Year 12, instead of compressing it into the autumn of Year 13, tends to produce a stronger and more reflective personal statement.

• Year 12 autumn term: begin wider reading, join or start a relevant society, research work experience options
• Year 12 spring and summer: complete work experience or virtual placements, enter subject competitions, begin an EPQ if taking one
• Year 13 September: draft the personal statement using activity already completed by that point

Writing about it in the personal statement and at interview

Admissions tutors reading a personal statement tend to notice reflection before achievement, so a sentence explaining what a period of shadowing revealed about consent or anxiety management usually serves an application better than a sentence simply naming the practice visited. The same principle carries into a multiple mini interview or panel interview, where a question about a listed activity is often an invitation to think aloud about what it taught the applicant, not a request to recite it.

A few habits weaken an otherwise strong application repeatedly.

• Listing activities without reflection, leaving an admissions tutor to infer their significance
• Concentrating all super-curricular activity into the weeks before the UCAS deadline
• Treating work experience as an end in itself, leaving little material to draw on when asked what it taught them at interview

Recommended resources for Dentistry

• British Dental Journal: The BDA's main journal, useful for short, current articles on clinical and policy issues.
• Health Careers: Dental team: NHS careers information setting out the roles, training routes and realities of dental careers.
• General Dental Council: The UK dental regulator, useful for understanding professionalism, registration and standards applicants may be asked about.
• British Dental Association: The professional association for UK dentists, with news and policy context on the profession.
• Royal College of Surgeons of England, Faculty of Dental Surgery: Runs events and resources for those considering a dental career, including insight into postgraduate training.
• Medic Mentor: Runs conferences and mentoring aimed at aspiring dental and medical students, including virtual work experience.
• In2Science UK: A widening access programme offering work experience placements relevant to health science applicants.

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