Choosing a Dental School

There is no objective way to say that one dental school is best, and this site does not rank schools. What you can do is compare schools on facts that affect your own plan: what the program awards, whether it is accredited, how clinical training is organized, what it costs, how you will be taught and, above all, whether graduates can register in the country where you want to practise. This guide gives a framework and a set of questions.

Start with your end goal

Write down the country where you want to practise first, and the country where you can realistically study second. They are separate decisions. A school that suits you as a student may be a poor route to registration in your intended country, and the reverse can also be true. Regulators decide registration, not schools and not directories. See Registration in Your Intended Practice Country.

The checklist of facts

1. What does the program award?

Check that it is an initial dental qualification, the entry route to practising as a dentist, and not a certificate, allied program or postgraduate award. The initial dental degrees section is a starting point. Record the exact degree title and the awarding institution; a branch campus may be taught in one country but award the degree from another.

2. Who accredits or authorizes it?

Accreditation is performed by bodies that vary by country. CODA, for example, describes accreditation as peer review in which the sponsoring institution submits an application and a self-study, hosts an on-site review, and receives a decision; accredited programs receive a follow-up site review every seven years (five for oral and maxillofacial surgery programs). In Australia, the Dental Board states that the Australian Dental Council is the accreditation authority responsible for accrediting education providers and programs of study. In the United Kingdom, the General Dental Council describes assessing, approving, monitoring and inspecting education providers against its standards. Always ask: which body, which program, which status and since when? See Dental-School Accreditation.

Pending applications and consultations are not accreditation. A listing, including a listing on this site, is not accreditation either.

3. Does the regulator where I want to work accept it?

The Canadian examining board states that holders of a DDS, DMD or BDS from a program not recognized by the Canadian accreditor must follow one of three pathways, which include examinations or an accredited qualifying program. Many countries have similar systems. The FDI World Dental Federation's policy statement on equivalency of diplomas supports evaluation of equivalence by appropriate organizations in each state, country or region, which is why country-by-country checks are unavoidable.

4. How is clinical training delivered?

Ask where patients are treated, from which year, how supervision works, whether there are required placements elsewhere, and who is responsible for arranging them. See Clinical Training Questions.

5. What will it really cost?

Tuition is only one line. Instrument kits, laboratory fees, insurance, living costs and travel may sit outside the headline fee. See Tuition and Instrument Costs and the tuition page.

6. Language of teaching and of patient care

The language of lectures may differ from the language of patient treatment. See Teaching and Clinical Languages and English-taught programs.

7. Who may apply, and how?

Some schools admit only domestic applicants, some set quotas for international students, and some require national tests. Read the school's own admissions page; see admissions and international for orientation.

A comparison grid

Warning signs

• Claims such as "approved everywhere", "WHO-approved" or "recognized worldwide". No such universal status exists.
• Guarantees of registration, visas, jobs or transfer credit.
• A school that will not say which accreditor or authority covers the program.
• Pressure to pay a deposit before you have the facts in writing.
• A page that mixes the dentist degree with hygiene, assisting or technician training without explaining the difference.

Using this directory

Use schools and compare to build a shortlist, then verify every important fact on an official page. If a fact is missing from a school's record here, treat it as unknown, not as absent, and see methodology for how the site handles sources.

Making the decision

After collecting facts, write down what you can verify and what you cannot. A school with verifiable accreditation, a clear regulator route and a transparent cost statement may be a more sensible choice for you than one with a more attractive city but unclear status. Equally, a school with a clear status but no information on clinical placements may need a direct question before you decide. Weighting the factors is personal: family, funding, language and where you want to live are as legitimate as any institutional factor.

Avoid shortcuts such as comparing league tables, which this directory does not publish and which do not measure the things above. Avoid relying on testimonials, which describe individual experiences. Prefer documents: the accreditor's list, the regulator's page, the school's written answers.

Finally, keep a second option. Admission is never guaranteed, and a shortlist of three to five programs in at least two countries protects you from a single decision going the wrong way.

Common questions

Is a university-owned school better than an independent one? Ownership is a fact to record, not a measure of quality. Check accreditation, supervision and costs for the particular program.

Should I choose the school nearest to my intended practice country? Not necessarily; proximity helps with contacts and language, but registration depends on the regulator's rules, not geography.

How many schools should I contact? Enough to compare answers on the same questions, usually a handful. Send each the same list so you can compare like with like.

A note on sources

Facts on a school's own website are claims by the school until an independent official page confirms them. Where you can, pair each school statement with a regulator, accreditor or ministry page, and note the date you checked. This habit takes little time and prevents most of the avoidable mistakes described above. It also gives you a record to show a regulator or adviser if a question arises later.