Dental education in primary care: 14 years of Peninsula Dental School

Peninsula Dental School, established in 2006, was the UK's first new dental school in 40 years. It had the freedom to develop a completely new dental education curriculum planned on pedagogic thinking, designed to equip the dental care professionals of the twenty-first century. This was based on three distinct pillars: professionalism (developing a student's trust in their own autonomy); dental skills of the highest order (not just technical skills but also communication skills); and social engagement. As such, a truly innovative approach to dental education was created that has strong roots in evidence. This paper describes the University of Plymouth Peninsula Dental School's achievements against these initial objectives under the following areas: training in primary care; a novel spiralling integrated curriculum and assessments; facilities reaching out to deliver patient care; bringing meaningful patient contact to students from the earliest months of their course; embedding community engagement within the curriculum; development of Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise; and team working, training a variety of dental care profession students side by side. The University of Plymouth Peninsula Dental School, working with all its partners, has successfully pioneered and delivered significant changes in the field of education and continues to strive to further develop these and more for the future.