Helen Whately MP was accompanied by Plymouth Moor View MP Johnny Mercer on a tour of the multi-award-winning facilities at Derriford.
As well as finding out more about the university’s innovative primary care teaching model – where students treat members of the public, under supervision – the minister was given the opportunity to try her hand at polishing teeth on a training mannequin known as a ‘phantom head’.
The Peninsula Dental School (PDS) and Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise (PDSE)’s pioneering work won the Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community category at the Times Higher Education Awards 2023.
Plymouth is also ranked number one for dentistry in The Guardian’s league tables and the University has won many more accolades, reflecting the efforts of more than 100 staff and 400 students working and studying across Devon and Cornwall.
Ewen McColl, head of Peninsula Dental School, said, “We’re proud of our work combining first-rate dental training with outstanding community care and it’s always good for key stakeholders, including members of the overnment, to see our efforts first-hand.
“What we do here is so far advanced from when I trained in Edinburgh, just over 30 years ago. In Plymouth, we believe that early contact with patients is key, and we were pleased that today’s visitors were able to see some of our first-year students interacting with patients for the first time.
“Our driving force is training the next generation of dentists and dental therapists.”
Since it was established in 2007, PDS has delivered care to more than 60,000 patients, including children, people with learning difficulties, older people at risk of isolation, young carers, people experiencing homelessness, and those living in social housing.
Robert Witton, chief executive of PDSE and professor of community dentistry, said, “Our clinics run in key locations across Devon and Cornwall, and the university is planning a new public-facing surgery for people suffering dental pain, in Plymouth city centre.
“Where better to train the clinicians of the future than in areas of greatest need, such as the rural and coastal communities we serve in South West England?”
Plymouth currently has an intake of 58 students per year, whereas most of England’s dental schools take in 72, so Ewen and his team took the opportunity to press home the need for 14 additional places at PDS.
The University of Plymouth is the only ‘post-92’ institution with both a medical and dental school. A further 17 places for the Peninsula Medical School was also announced in May.