Aligning Undergraduate Dental Education with Primary Dental Care: Responding to Technological Change and Contemporary Practice

Undergraduate dental education must prepare graduates to manage not only clinical procedures, but also the complexity, uncertainty and competing demands of contemporary primary dental care. This article argues for closer alignment between dental schools and primary care in the design, delivery and assessment of undergraduate education. It considers the value of authentic primary care and outreach learning, greater integration of dental and dental care professional students, and assessment approaches that emphasise longitudinal capability and management of patients. It also examines how digital dentistry, artificial intelligence and simulation should be incorporated into curricula, with emphasis on critical judgement, adaptability and appropriate use of technology. As undergraduate dental training expands in the UK, primary dental care should be regarded not simply as the eventual destination of graduates, but as an active partner in shaping curricula that prepare future dental professionals for safe, person-centred, evidence-informed and adaptable practice.