Free dental treatment at UK dental schools and teaching hospitals

How student treatment works

Dentists in training need patients. University dental schools and their teaching hospitals take on adult volunteers, and in some places children, whose treatment needs match what students are learning. Undergraduate dental, hygiene and therapy students carry out the work, and qualified staff supervise the clinics.

The trade is time. You pay nothing at most schools listed below, and in return you attend long weekday appointments in term time. Missed appointments can end the offer. Glasgow and Cardiff discharge you once the course is complete, so you still need your own dentist for check-ups.

Schools which state their terms

Each entry below was checked against the school's or hospital's own page on 22 October 2026.

How to apply to each school

Guy's Hospital, London. Treatment runs on the 21st, 25th and 26th floors of Tower Wing, Guy's Hospital, Great Maze Pond, SE1 9RT. Contact is by the email addresses on the trust page, one for referrals and new appointments and one for follow-ups. Clinics run in term time only. The page excludes people needing sedation, implants or braces.

Birmingham Dental Hospital. Read the Patient Responsibility Agreement, then email the self-referral form to bdhwaitinglist.admin@nhs.net. A screening clinic appointment follows. The booking team is on 0121 466 5555, 8.45am to 4.40pm on weekdays.

University of Bristol. You become a patient only after an assessment. Students work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 9am to 12.30pm and 1.30pm to 5pm, in term time. Missing or cancelling late more than twice in 12 months ends further appointments. The university switchboard is 0117 928 9000.

University of Liverpool. Submit your contact details through the school's free dental treatment page. You attend an initial assessment first. Treatment runs Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, in term time.

University of Leeds. Complete the online registration form with your name, address, phone number, date of birth and GP details. The school can close its list at short notice, and people treated there recently are not eligible.

Manchester. Register interest through the form on the hospital page. From 8 May 2026 the page reports no current places, with the scheme due to reopen later in the year. Until your course starts you still need check-ups and urgent care elsewhere.

University of Portsmouth Dental Academy. Check the academy's listing on the NHS website to see whether it is taking patients, or ring 023 9284 5285. Treatments listed include fillings, gum treatment, crowns and bridgework, dentures and root canal fillings.

Cardiff. Phone the University Dental Hospital to complete an application form for a suitability assessment. Appointments run 9am to 4pm on weekdays. The waiting list is outside NHS waiting time targets.

Glasgow. Complete the online Free Dental Treatment form, then the patient pack forms. The student patient coordinator is on 0141 211 9656. Clinics run 9am to 3pm on weekdays in term time. If no appointment comes within 9 months, the school contacts you to check you still want a place.

Dundee. Email the clinic for a student clinic application form. The wait for a screening assessment can reach 6 months when demand is high. Adults need to manage appointments of 90 to 180 minutes and lie flat in the chair.

Aberdeen. Ring 01224 551901 or email gram.dentalinstitute@nhs.scot for an initial assessment with an experienced clinician.

How much you save

A course with a crown costs £332.10 on the NHS in England from 1 April 2026, and mydentist lists a private crown at £826 in England and Wales. At a school offering free treatment, the same crown costs nothing. A course of fillings saves the £76.60 band 2 charge on the NHS, or at least £174 against mydentist's private white filling price in England and Wales.

What students do not treat

Each school chooses cases to match teaching needs. Birmingham excludes implants, whitening, repeat or complex root canal treatment, complex crown and bridge work, complex gum problems and sedation, and turns away patients with complex medical histories or who need hospital transport. Dundee excludes implants, whitening, orthodontics and sedation or general anaesthetic. Glasgow no longer accepts patients who need dentures. Guy's Hospital does not treat under 18s at its undergraduate clinics.

None of these clinics replaces urgent care. Guy's Hospital tells people in pain to call NHS 111, and Manchester gives the same advice. The emergency dental costs guide explains the NHS urgent charge.

Mistakes that cost money

Booking a school place while also paying a private practice for the same work. Ask the school how long the wait is before you commit to private treatment.

Missing appointments. Bristol, Dundee, Glasgow and Cardiff all say missed or late-cancelled visits can end your treatment, leaving you to pay elsewhere.

Expecting ongoing care. A school course ends with discharge at Glasgow and Cardiff. Keep looking for an NHS practice while you wait, using the steps in finding an NHS dentist.

Where the figures come from

Each school entry comes from that school's or hospital's own patient page, listed in the sources. The Dundee free-of-charge statement is confirmed on the NHS Tayside referral page. The £332.10 and £76.60 NHS charges are from NHSBSA knowledge base article KA-02003. The £826 crown and £174 white filling prices are mydentist's published standard prices for England and Wales.