Appointments

Your appointment

All appointments are face-to-face.

Your time and availability

Undergraduate students work more slowly than qualified dentists, and supervisors must check their work.

Each treatment appointment is likely to take 3 to 4 hours, and you may need several appointments to complete your treatment.

Students' availability is also affected by their academic commitments, such as classes, examinations and university holidays. They may spend time away from the clinic as part of their studies, sometimes for several weeks at a time.

This means your treatment may take longer than it would in a regular dental practice, and appointments may be less frequent.

It is important that you have enough time to attend appointments and can be flexible about the days and times when you are available.

How to get an appointment

You can self-refer for dental treatment by undergraduate students.

When you submit the referral form, you will receive an email confirming whether your referral has been accepted.

If your referral is accepted, it will usually be registered on our patient system within 2 to 3 weeks. Once registered, you will receive an invitation to sign up for MyChart, our online patient portal, where you can manage appointments and communications.

New patient assessment appointments can be booked through MyChart as they become available. New appointment slots are released regularly, so we recommend checking MyChart frequently.

There is usually a waiting time of 2 to 3 months for a new patient assessment appointment after your referral has been accepted. However, appointments may become available sooner, and a member of the team may contact you directly if an earlier appointment can be offered.

Appointments take place during term time:

• Monday to Thursday, starting at 9:30am or 1:30pm
• Friday, starting at 9:30am or 2pm

Changing your appointment

Phone

Please contact the reception team for the floor your appointment is on.

21st floor reception: 020 7188 1869

25th floor reception: 020 7188 1585

26th floor reception: 020 7188 6066

Email: [email protected]

You can change or cancel your appointment up to 24 hours before your appointment. If you cannot attend, please let us know as soon as possible so we can offer the appointment to another patient. You can cancel your appointment through MyChart, by text message or by email.

If you do not attend a new assessment appointment, or cancel your appointment with less than 24 hours’ notice, you will be discharged from the dental undergraduate service. Assessment appointments can only be cancelled and rescheduled once.

For follow-up appointments, more than 2 missed appointments or cancellations may result in discharge from the service. Please try to attend all your appointments.

Before your appointment

We'll confirm your appointment by text message, email or letter, depending on your preferred method of contact. If you have not received confirmation, please email the dental undergraduate team at [email protected].

During your appointment

Please arrive no more than 30 minutes before your appointment. At busy times, it can take an extra 15 to 20 minutes to reach the correct floor in Guy's Tower using the lifts. Please allow enough time for your journey and aim to arrive in time for your appointment.

You'll be assessed by a dental student under the supervision of an experienced dentist in an open clinic. Your appointment may last 2 to 3 hours and will involve an assessment of your teeth. During the appointment, we will assess your teeth. We may take dental X-rays. If you have had X-rays taken recently elsewhere, please bring copies with you.

We'll discuss the results of this assessment with you and let you know if you are suitable for treatment with the dental students.

Please be aware we may inform you our undergraduates can not treat you.

After your appointment

If you are suitable for treatment with the dental students, we'll discuss your plan with you and give you a copy. If you decide to go ahead with treatment, we'll place you on a waiting list.

A clinical supervisor will decide the most appropriate student to provide your treatment, based on the treatment you need and the student's level of training. The undergraduate administration team will then allocate a suitable student based on availability and training requirements.

Your first follow-up appointment will be arranged by the undergraduate administration team. Once you have been assigned to a student, they will arrange future appointments with you throughout your treatment. Please note that students can only contact patients while they are in clinic.

Depending on your treatment needs, your care may be provided by more than one student. If your dental student graduates before your treatment is complete, your care will be transferred to another student.

If you are waiting for a follow-up appointment and have not heard from us, please email the dental undergraduate team at [email protected].

If you're not suitable for dental treatment with the students, we'll speak to you about your dental needs and give advice on next steps. We cannot provide a written report of your dental treatment needs.