Study Dentistry Abroad
Study Dental courses abroad and start a high-earning profession in countries like the USA, the UK, and Europe. Get a comprehensive guide on how to study Dental courses abroad here.
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What you'll learn in this article
If you study dentistry abroad, it will offer you the technical expertise and personal attributes you need to be a dentist. Dentistry courses teach you everything you need to know regarding oral health, besides helping you gain people skills and master surgical techniques. In most countries, dentistry is taught over the course of four to five years.
To work as a dentist abroad, it is a must to attend dental school for a relevant degree and meet country-specific dentistry requirements. For instance, in the United Kingdom, you will also have to hold a GCC-approved Bachelor of Dental Surgery and complete postgraduate dental training to be a dentist. In this regard, almost every country is similar to the UK.
An undergraduate qualification in dentistry, such as a Bachelor of Dental Surgery, is a must in some nations to attend dental college for a specialised degree in this field. However, in the United Kingdom and elsewhere, it is possible for you to straight away pursue an undergraduate degree in dentistry straight away over the course of five years.
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Why Study Dentistry Abroad?
If you decide to study dentistry abroad, you will have a lot of benefits, including the ones listed below:
A Great Range of Academic Options: Studying abroad allows you to pick from a wider range of prestigious dental medicine schools. It is not easy to get into a top dentistry programme abroad, so it pays to apply to many institutions to boost your chances.
High Salaries: Another reason to think about enrolling in a dentistry course abroad is that dental health professionals earn a lot. Wages may vary by your location, industry, and dental speciality, but working in prosthodontics, orthodontics, or dental surgery will allow you to have higher earnings as compared to other fields. For instance, in the US, the salary of a dentist can be anywhere between US $150,000 and US $240,000 or so.
For Further Understanding: It takes patience to work with people from cultural backgrounds that are different from yours. You will interact with people from different cultures when you study dentistry abroad. Learning the best ways to communicate with others will help you interact with patients more effectively.
More Access to Technology: In many nations, you can access interesting research and pieces of technology, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), Robotics, and 3D Imaging, that could go a long way in your dentistry career. If you study dentistry at a university in one of those nations, you can access opportunities to try things that might otherwise be unavailable to you and gain unique skills. This might be the case if your dentistry course abroad involves activities at a technologically advanced hospital or clinic that works closely with your higher education provider.
Apply to dental courses abroad with the help of AECC experts.
Types of Dentistry Degrees to Study Abroad
The two most common types of dentistry programmes that students pursue at the international level are bachelor's and master's degrees.
| Qualification | Duration | Requirement |
|---|---|---|
| Bachelors in Dentistry (BDS/BChD) | Up to 5 years | Successful completion of Year 12 or a prior bachelor’s degree (depending on the country); satisfactory English proficiency score |
| Masters in Dentistry (MDS/MClinDent) | Up to 2 Years | A bachelor's degree in an oral health-related field; acceptable English proficiency score |
Requirements to Study Dentistry Abroad
To attend dental school in a different nation, you will have to satisfy the admission requirements of the institution where you plan to study. The dentistry course requirements will vary depending on where you want to study dental medicine. You may only use the following as general information.
- Successful completion of Year 12 with good grades in biology and chemistry for bachelors
- Good scores in an English proficiency test, such as IELTS Academic or TOEFL
- Academic references that are relevant to dentistry
- A bachelor’s qualification in an area that relates to dentistry for masters
- Completion of the Dental Admissions Test (to be able to study in the USA)
- Some amount of work experience
- Personal interview
Career Prospects & Scope After Dentistry Abroad
Here, we will list out career paths directly associated with dentistry and jobs where it is potentially useful to have a degree in dentistry. Several employers in the oral health industry invite graduates who have an aesthetic dentistry or any other relevant degree major to apply for their jobs. Therefore, try not to limit your options to the following.
Dentistry Jobs Abroad
- Dental therapist
- Dental technician
- Dentist
- Dental hygienist
Career Paths for Dentistry Graduates
- Health improvement practitioner
- Anatomical pathology technologist
- Higher education lecturer
- Health service manager
- Primary school teacher
- Medical sales representative
- Secondary school teacher
- Science writer
- Teaching laboratory technician
Ready for your international Dentistry courses application? Register with AECC for step-by-step guidance on the entire study abroad process.
Study Dentistry Abroad FAQs
It depends on whether you are pursuing a bachelor’s or master’s in dentistry abroad. You will usually have to study for five years for the bachelor’s degree, whereas the master’s qualification will only require up to three years of study.
The US, Australia, Canada, and the UK are some of the prime examples. That said, dentistry itself is among the highest-paying fields in medicine, so you are certain to earn a lot wherever you work.
Dental schools usually recommend mathematics as a subject in high school or at the undergraduate level for admission to their dentistry degree programs. However, it is not a primary admission requirement.
From a salary and career prospect point of view, the United Kingdom is among the best countries in Europe for dentists. That said, you may also consider pursuing a dentistry degree in Ireland and working here because of cheaper tuition fees and, by extension, a greater return on investment.
Yes. Many dental schools across Europe offer dentistry courses in English, especially for international students. Countries such as Hungary, Poland, and Lithuania have universities that teach full dental programmes in English, making it easier for students from different parts of the world to apply.
Trusted Expertise
About the Author
Published and reviewed by AECC counsellors who guide students through every step of their study-abroad journey.
Published by Bindu Mary Idicula
Test Prep, Courses & Application Expert | 20 Years in International Education
Bindu Mary Idicula has spent over 20 years in international education, writing on three areas that students navigate across every study abroad destination: standardised tests, course selection and application documents. She covers TOEFL, SAT, ACT, OET, GRE and GMAT, writes on standalone course guides across disciplines, and covers the application documents students need including Letters of Recommendation, Statements of Purpose, academic essays and CVs.
What connects these three areas is the same practical angle. She does not write about tests, courses or application documents in the abstract. She writes about what students need to know when they are actively deciding: which test is required for a specific course and destination, what a particular discipline looks like across different countries, and what makes an SOP or LOR work for a student with a specific academic background. That specificity comes from two decades of student consultations.
Her articles across the AECC platform have been read over 650,000 times. The breadth of topics she covers reflects the range of questions students bring to consultations, from which exam to take first to how to write a CV that works for an international university application. She holds an MBA in Marketing and is based at AECC's Tamil Nadu offices.
