New city centre clinic in Plymouth
Student dental therapists helping to address urgent demand for dental services
30 January 2025
Plymouth city centre is to get a facility where aspiring dentists and dental therapists will treat patients in urgent need of dental care.
Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise (PDSE), a subsidiary of the University of Plymouth, has taken a 20-year lease on Plymouth City Council’s former First Stop Shop in New George Street.
Over the coming months, and subject to planning permission being granted, it will be revamped through a £5million project and become home to the new Peninsula Dental Education Practice.
Two floors of the building will be remodelled into treatment and consultation spaces, complete with state-of-the-art equipment and facilities and employing sustainable practices such as digital dentistry.
Once complete, it will offer appointments and an oral surgery service. This will enable up to 16 final-year students from the University’s Peninsula Dental School to work alongside specialists and other qualified clinicians to provide urgent care to patients who do not have a regular NHS dentist and have presented with pain, infection and trauma.
The new practice will go some way to filling the huge demand for dental care in Plymouth, with long waiting lists across all NHS providers and a lack of practitioners to meet the demand.
Professor Robert Witton, PDSE Chief Executive and Professor of Community Dentistry at the University, said: “We are proud of our record of providing first class clinical experience to our undergraduates in a community setting by treating thousands of patients who otherwise would not receive NHS treatment, but we know there is an urgent need for more dental care services. That is particularly the case here in the South West, and this new clinic – our fifth in Devon and Cornwall – could be a real game-changer. It will provide our students with hands-on experience that bridges the gap between their training and going into practice. It could also transform the lives of the extra people we are able to treat, with the real possibility that many of them have been waiting months or even years to see a dentist.”
PDSE, as the University’s student clinical placement provider, currently operates from four clinics across Devon and Cornwall, with two in Plymouth and one each in Truro and Exeter.
Within those clinics, more than 430 students on the University’s Dental Surgery and Dental Therapy programmes work alongside experienced staff to hone their skills, and in the past year, they provided well over 35,000 appointments to almost 6,500 patients.
Those facilities are already running at capacity, with the new practice enabling more students to learn the skills they will need to succeed in their careers.
It will also provide a fundamentally different teaching experience to the current facilities by expanding clinical teaching in a setting that simulates a real dental practice as opposed to a large teaching facility.
Professor Richard Davies, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Plymouth, added: “As well as providing students with the skills and confidence to succeed, a huge part of our focus is on helping them thrive once they graduate. Practical experience is particularly important for our trainee dentists and dental therapists, and this clinic – at the heart of our city and community – has the added benefit of providing a real and much-needed service to society. It is a win-win for everyone involved.”
PDSE is a member of the Plymouth Dental Taskforce, which was created in 2023 in response to the local crisis in dentistry. The Council-led taskforce is cross-party and includes representatives from local health organisations as well as the city’s three MPs.
Councillor Mary Aspinall, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care and Chair of the Plymouth Dental Taskforce, said: “Delivering a new dental facility in the city centre has been a key priority for the Dental Taskforce, and we’re pleased to have been able to offer our support to help PDSE reach this crucial stage. As a Council, we constantly review our properties to make sure they’re providing value to our residents and helping us deliver our priorities. We have been working closely with PDSE to help identify the ideal location for this new practice and are really pleased to have now handed over the keys to the building so they can move forward with the next steps. With tens of thousands of people in Plymouth unable to access NHS dental healthcare, the work of PDSE is so important – not only by providing dental treatment but also training the future generation of dental professionals.”
Luke Pollard MP, Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport and also a member of the Plymouth Dental Taskforce, said: “A new city centre dental clinic will be transformative for Plymouth. It also reinforces the health village I have been campaigning for with more health services on the high street. We should be very proud of our dental school, already the best in England, and now making an even bigger contribution to improving dental health in Plymouth. Fixing Plymouth’s dentistry crisis is a priority for me. Alongside this clinic, I am determined to deliver the extra NHS dentists and appointments Plymouth needs.”
Since it was established in 2013, PDSE has earned numerous regional and national accolades, most recently winning the Community-Based Social Enterprise of the Year category at the UK Social Enterprise Awards.
Its work in the community has also been integral in enabling the University to retain its position as the UK’s best place to study dentistry for the past two years, according to the Guardian University Guide. The University also won the Outstanding Contribution to the Local Community category at the Times Higher Education Awards 2023.
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