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General dental practitioners (GDPs) are either employed as assistants or work as self-employed associates, providing National Health Service (NHS) dental services. Dental practices vary in size from single-practitioner part-time surgeries to multiple-site partnerships with several associates. Dental treatment may be provided under the NHS or as private care - most dentists run mixed practices.
Approximately 3,000 hospital dentists in the UK are employed in NHS hospital trusts in a variety of dental specialisms, including paediatric dentistry, orthodontics, oral pathology, restorative dentistry and dental public health. Many of their patients are referred by GDPs. Specialists in oral medicine and oral maxillofacial surgery are doubly qualified in dentistry and medicine. Hospital dentists see fewer patients than GDPs but cases are more complex.
Approximately 2,000 salaried dentists in the UK have a contract of employment with the Community Dental Service (CDS), now known in England as the Salaried Primary Dental Care Service (SPDCS), providing dental care for patients with special needs of various kinds, such as people with disabilities, children, the elderly and the housebound. Salaried dentists work in a variety of clinical settings, such as: health authority surgeries; mobile clinics; residential homes.
Dental officers in the armed forces provide dental care for service men and women and their families at locations in the UK and overseas. For details, contact the Royal Army Dental Corps (RADC) , Royal Navy Careers and Royal Air Force Careers .
Corporate practices and regional dental access centres also employ dentists. These are relatively recent developments which are likely to grow.
Universities with dental schools and teaching hospitals offer dentists the option of combining academic teaching with research to pursue special interests in-depth.
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