routes to Dentistry?

pjm5

I am sure that I will not get almost 600 points for dentistry.. (I'll still put it in as my top choices just incase)
I was wondering if anyone know any routes of doing it, that's not through the CAO
I don't mind doing a 2years course of Dental Nursing/Hygiene if I know there is a way to Dentistry. Please help, I don't want to put it down on my CAO and not have any plan. Thanks

burtslimpslon

If dentistry is what you really really want to do, I'd look at studying abroad eg Hungary. It is expensive but getting accepted into the college is not half as hard.

pjm5

do you know if there's a less expensive route?
is there really no other route in Ireland?

burtslimpslon

I don't know any Irish route but that's not to say there is none to be perfectly honest i don't know a lot about alternative routes, i only know about Hungary because I'm looking at doing a course with high points aswell (not dentistry though) which i doubt ill get enough points for.

pjm5

Same. But I reallly don't want to leave Dublin, even more; Ireland. And I don't really want to pay a lot of fees.
By the way would you know, that if we do a Level 7 course, are the tuition fees to do a Level 8 still cheap? Thank you

EoghanIRL

Well you can do an undergrad , get a honours and then apply.
Apply as a mature student .
Get the points you need in the lc .

Doing a course in dental nursing / hygiene doesn't guarantee you a place in the bds course .

I would advise against going abroad . Try and get the points you need to study it in Ireland. It will stand to you in the long run .

pjm5

@EoghanIRL I understand that it won't guarantee me a place, but is there no route? at all? that means not going through the CAO again or as a Mature student?
I don't mind doing an entrance exam or something...
I just want to stay away from going abroad, going through the CAO again, being a mature student and spending RIDICULOUS amount of money

davo10

pjm5 wrote: »

@EoghanIRL I understand that it won't guarantee me a place, but is there no route? at all? that means not going through the CAO again or as a Mature student?
I don't mind doing an entrance exam or something...
I just want to stay away from going abroad, going through the CAO again, being a mature student and spending RIDICULOUS amount of money

There are currently approx 70 places per year available in the two dental hospitals, so points from LC are high and only those with a honours degree (I think) can apply as a mature student as competition for these allocated places is fierce.

Without meaning to sound cruel OP but it is a very tough course, if you fall short on the LC, there is no gaurantee you will get through the 5 years of study.

pjm5

what do you suggest on doing then? if I really want to be a dentist but not able to get the CAO points

Running girl

Hi op,
Your best option is probably to give the leaving cert everything you can and if it doesn’t work out perhaps repeat next year if possible ( that’s what I did!). I think last years points were around 575 or so for dublin and similar to that in cork (best to check those figures out).

It’s a tough course and there is a lot of competition to get in (trinity now have 50 places for first years although around 10 of these are allocated to canadian students and then some more places are offered to people from other countries and mature students).

You would always have the option of going the mature entry route but the competition for that is very tough! If that’s your plan though it might be advisable to pick a science course so at least you’ll have a good understanding of lots of the first year material. This is very expensive though….

I love the course however it is intense. You are in college pretty much all day every day and you will spend your evenings studying ( social life really goes on standby). In Dublin lots of the material is covered through PBL (problem based learning) so you have to be very motivated and willing to work independently.

If dentistry is what you really want to do, go for it and give it everything you can this year. The best of luck with it and if you have any other questions fire away ☺

EoghanIRL

In ucc it isn't problem based learning . This was a deciding factor for some people I know to pick Ucc.

Davo10 said it may be cruel but if you can't get the points in the leaving cert then even if you do get in someway by doing dental nursing or hygiene there is no guarantee you could manage the work load . This is true . The workload is massive.

Let me give you an example . In first year semester 2 , you start biochemistry . You study modules that biochem students don't even touch on until late 2nd year. There will be no one there to fill in the gap . It will be presumed you know all the lc Chemistry.

Another poster mentioned the points being 575 this year . Trust me when I say this , nearly everyone scored more and the points do go higher for the course .

However , I was lucky that I only did my lc once . A lot of students are repeats. So this means if you don't get it on your first go it's not the end of the world !

At the end of the day it's a tough course . I have to spend so much time studying it's ridiculous. I love it though and would recommend it to anyone . My advice, go for it in this years leaving cert . Put in the hard work now. At the end of the day the lc all comes down to hard work and how determined you are . If you don't get it this year then you can always try again .Good luck

btkm8unsl0w5r4

OP Stop assuming you cant get the points. Apply yourself, get grinds, study twice as much and stop looking for an alternative route. Only once you have tried and failed a couple of times is it necessary to look elsewhere, or rethink you carrier choice.

Going to Hungary will severely limit your job opportunities on the other end, also you will need to learn Hungarian, and it will cost a fortune.

Dentistry is a hard course, everyone has big points, everyone is smart, everyone is motivated. And despite all this, half of the students will become below average dentists. If you can get 500 points you can get 600,

digzy

pjm5 wrote: »

what do you suggest on doing then? if I really want to be a dentist but not able to get the CAO points

I really wanna bang rosanna Davison but sometimes you can't get what ya want and make do with what ya got.....

Saaron

You could always try getting in through Dental Technology. It's a three year course and a couple of the graduates have now gone into dentistry. I wouldn't recommend that route because it's three years of your time with no guarantee of getting into dentistry, however there's probably more of a chance than if you were to try through nursing or hygiene.

EoghanIRL

Saaron wrote: »

You could always try getting in through Dental Technology. It's a three year course and a couple of the graduates have now gone into dentistry. I wouldn't recommend that route because it's three years of your time with no guarantee of getting into dentistry, however there's probably more of a chance than if you were to try through nursing or hygiene.

How exactly does it work ? Do the people in the dental technology course compete with other grad entry students? I think the op wants to know how these alternate entry routes work.

Dianthus

OP, you have to keep your options open, & be flexible.
You might consider a course to become a CDT (Clinical Dental Technician). You get to treat patients in much the same way that you would as a dentist, within certain limits.

ballsymchugh

pjm5 wrote: »

Same. But I reallly don't want to leave Dublin, even more; Ireland. And I don't really want to pay a lot of fees.
By the way would you know, that if we do a Level 7 course, are the tuition fees to do a Level 8 still cheap? Thank you

there's your first problem. it's similar in Cork, with a significant minority of the class being from around Co. Cork, and quite a few of them wanted medicine anyway. if they really wanted to do medicine, then they would consider Dublin and Galway etc and stop bumping up the points for a job they don't want to do.

if you want to do dentistry, apply to Cork, apply in the UCAS too. despite what anyone might say, the basic degree is the same all over europe. i've worked with dentists who qualified in UK, Spain, Hungary and Ireland. without a doubt, it was the irish qualified that made me want to tear my hair out.

the course in Semmelweiss in Budapest is done in English. they have enough students there from all over the place to make it worth their while to do it that way. you'd pick up the lingo from full immersion outside of college and it's a really nice city too.

going in as a postgrad to UCC will cost you at least 100k.

bureau2009

ballsymchugh wrote: »

i've worked with dentists who qualified in UK, Spain, Hungary and Ireland. without a doubt, it was the irish qualified that made me want to tear my hair out.

That's interesting. What was it about the Irish qualified dentists that was different to the others?

ballsymchugh

bureau2009 wrote: »

That's interesting. What was it about the Irish qualified dentists that was different to the others?

probably being unfair, but it was in the UK, and just seemed to be slow to adapt to the system there. granted, the system was a pain in the hole.

res ipsa

ballsymchugh wrote: »

probably being unfair, but it was in the UK, and just seemed to be slow to adapt to the system there. granted, the system was a pain in the hole.

Were they langers?

res ipsa

digzy wrote: »

I really wanna bang rosanna Davison but sometimes you can't get what ya want and make do with what ya got.....

Or use sedation.

btkm8unsl0w5r4

ballsymchugh wrote: »

probably being unfair, but it was in the UK, and just seemed to be slow to adapt to the system there. granted, the system was a pain in the hole.

Cant fiugure out if thats a good or bad thing

pjm5

EoghanIRL wrote: »

How exactly does it work ? Do the people in the dental technology course compete with other grad entry students? I think the op wants to know how these alternate entry routes work.

how does it work? the cao closed though

diograis

Hey I'm a dental student in ucc, some stuff to be cleared up:

The cao is NOT "closed up". Change of mind opens in July. I suggest you read up on the cao.

As far as I have heard, you have f all advantage over other graduates applying to dentistry if you have dental hygiene / tech / nursing. I would advise against you doing a degree in any of these if you really don't want to, as it won't significantly improve your chances and it would be a very long two and a half years. Also this leads onto my other thing as you would have to pay graduate fees.

Graduate entry is disgustingly expensive and if you can avoid it I would. Just be glad we don't pay 30000 plus like the internationals.

No idea about Hungary or anything like that, sorry.

I got in in 2013 with only 570, granted I was very lucky but it shows that it is possible. I'd advise you buckle down, study hard and who knows what could happen in August. Plenty of people in my class are either doing a second degree or had to repeat to get in, so don't stress over it !

Best of luck

res ipsa

You don't need to be very bright to get through dental school, an IQ of 115 will probably do if you have a strong work ethic. It's hard to get in in Ireland because they give 6 places to the Middle East 6 places to post grads & 10 places to Norn Iron applicants. That's Trinity I'm speaking about. The other 18 places are CAO more than half of which are repeat leaving cert. In my class we had one or two on a scholarship because they came from a poor school in Dublin so it's hard enough for first time leaving cert. Just get in where ever you can. The cream always rises and the scum always sink.

EoghanIRL

res ipsa wrote: »

You don't need to be very bright to get through dental school, an IQ of 115 will probably do if you have a strong work ethic. It's hard to get in in Ireland because they give 6 places to the Middle East 6 places to post grads & 10 places to Norn Iron applicants. That's Trinity I'm speaking about. The other 18 places are CAO more than half of which are repeat leaving cert. In my class we had one or two on a scholarship because they came from a poor school in Dublin so it's hard enough for first time leaving cert. Just get in where ever you can. The cream always rises and the scum always sink.

Foreign students are worth more to the college . They pay 10 times more than we do for their college fees. A university is a business at the end of the day.

This however creates an age difference . They are 25 years old vs half of the class who are 17/18/19 in first year.