We take mentoring very seriously and when it is delivered effectively, the results are extraordinary. Dental Mentor has established fantastic programmes that provide a variety of mentoring platforms from face-to-face, online and long-distance. This ensures that students are connected to realistic and motivational mentors in the way that they feel most comfortable.

Confidence is essential for creating a great impression at dental school interviews. It is essential throughout dental school and when applying for your academic and foundation job interviews too. The Dental Leadership Programme offers unique opportunities to build on confidence throughout the year by giving you access to confident mentors to network with.

Continuous skills development is a compulsory requirement for all dentists and dental students as outlined by the General Dental Council. We encourage this by co-ordinating over 20 conferences throughout the year and study guides to assist students in staying up-to-date with their dental wider-reading for dental school.  We do not expect students to attend all 20 conferences, but we aim to provide as much flexibility of dates as possible and with most of these being virtual, make them as accessible as possible too.

We encourage all of our applying and current students to make informed career decisions. Each programme has had excellent results, for example our Summer School for applicants and Scholarship Programme for dental students have the highest success rates compared with similar initiatives run by other organisations.

The quality of our teaching resources are unparalleled because they have been created by a range of experienced dentists and successful applicants.

It is essential that during this challenging journey of becoming a dentist, you also prioritise your own wellbeing. We have a designated Wellbeing Officer and a process that we have established to ensure that we are able to help struggling students through their applications and degrees.

We also make all of our teaching programmes as fun as possible, because we know that if you are enjoying yourself you are more likely to be successful in your work. Don’t be surprised if you make life-long friends along the way!

Applying to dental school is a family effort! Dental Mentor is here for both parents and students! Students who work with their parents on this journey as a team have a much greater chance of getting into dental school. This support does not vanish once you arrive at dental school either! Parents provide an invaluable support network throughout your dental career.

Therefore, if the whole family is informed, you are going to make better decisions together, which is why Dental Mentor has created a range of resources for parents to access too.

Secondary schools and dental schools play a very important role in teaching and training you to become excellent dentists in the future. However, as assessors, they are also intimidating by nature. Dental Mentor supports Teachers, Careers and Guidance Advisors in a variety of ways: 

1. Providing training and resources: Dental Mentor offers training and resources to teachers and academic institutions on how to support their students who are interested in pursuing a career in dentistry. This includes guidance on the dental school application process, interviews, and admissions exams, as well as information on relevant academic and extracurricular activities that can help students stand out.
2. Partnership opportunities: Dental Mentor works with academic institutions and teachers to develop partnerships that promote access to dental education and provide opportunities for students to engage with the dental community. This includes organising events, workshops, and mentorship programmes that bring students and dental professionals together.
3. Professional development: Dental Mentor offers professional development opportunities for teachers to enhance their knowledge and skills in supporting students interested in pursuing dentistry. This includes access to resources and training on best practices in mentorship, career guidance, and supporting the wellbeing of students.
4. Recognition and support: Dental Mentor recognises and celebrates the contributions of teachers in supporting students interested in pursuing dentistry. We offer awards and recognition programmes that highlight the achievements of outstanding teachers and provide support to help them continue to inspire and motivate their students.
5. Teacher Wellbeing: Dental Mentor understands the immense pressure placed on teachers to help students get into their desired careers.  This can be extremely challenging when the careers that are chosen are also highly competitive, like Dentistry.  Alongside our application resources to help take some of the pressure off your shoulders, we have also designed some valuable wellbeing initiatives.  Teachers are are incredible mentors and you also deserve access to valuable mentoring and up-skilling opportunities.

As a social enterprise, Dental Mentor reinvest proceeds raised from our programmes back into support our students applying for dentistry.  We do this primarily in 3 ways:

1. We run the UK’s largest medical and dental student scholarship programme.  These are academic awards worth up to £10,000 across an individual’s 5 year dental degree.  In addition to the financial help provided, our dental students receive additional wellbeing and mentoring support throughout dental school, so that they can make the most of the experience and ensure that they are well prepared for working as a future dental leader. These are merit-based awards made available to applying students at the end of their school years (during the summer when they receive their final results).  Students are selected on how pro-active they have been as Dental Mentor students.
2. We run the largest widening access programmes for aspiring dental students in the country.  We teach 50,000 students between 10-13/S3-S6/NI 11-14 year groups.  Our criteria to include students in most of our programmes is to expand our reach to everyone. Therefore we do not differentiate between student backgrounds, schools that they attend, or whether they are UK residents.  We aim to be as inclusive as possible.
3. We invest heavily in our widening access students to enrol onto Dental Mentor programmes for extra mentoring that involves an extra cost.  Where there are costs associated with additional mentoring, we ensure that a number of places are reserved for students from low-income backgrounds. This diversifies our future dental cohort to promote a workforce that is reflective of our diverse patient population.