BDS course is a full-time or part-time academic programme at the undergraduate study level. BDS refers to Bachelor of Dental Surgery. The course offers detailed theoretical and practical knowledge to students in the field of dentistry. Those intermediate students who are interested in adopting the career as a dentist can go for the BDS programme at various private and public institutions. While the average course duration is four years, it may be less or more, depending on the requirement of the internship as the part of the course.
While internship is a part of some programmes, it may be done after the course completion in other cases. However, it is mandatory to undergo a rotating internship in a dental college for a year. The BDS course is a popular professionally oriented programme among students who want to go into the medical field. The course focuses on providing the knowledge of dental treatments and practices, as well as of the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of several oral diseases. Students of BDS also learn about many dental procedures, such as dental anatomy, oral histology, dental surgery, and oral medicine.
There are several universities and dental colleges across India, offering the BDS course. These colleges and universities are recognised by UGC or AIU. While the country has around 300 such institutions, some of them rank among the top dental colleges or universities due to their quality of education in the field of dentistry. Here are a few of these leading institutions from where you can pursue a course in BDS:
Maulana Azad Medical College, University of Delhi, New Delhi
Manav Rachna Dental College, Faridabad
GITAM University, Visakhapatnam
Dr. D.Y. Patil Dental College and Hospital, Pune
School of Dental Sciences, Sharda University, Greater Noida
Kalinga Institute of Dental Sciences, Bhubaneswar
M.S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences, Bengaluru
NIMS Dental College and Hospital, Jaipur
Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore
Guru Nanak Institute of Dental Science and Research, Kolkata
K.M. Shah Dental College and Hospital, Vadodara
It is noteworthy that every institution offering the BDS course may have a different fee structure. The course fee may range from less than INR 1 lakh to more than INR 10 lakhs. It depends on the course reputation, course quality, institutional credibility, etc. Thus, students should be prepared to deal with their course fee and other expenses per their choice of institution.
Although it is essential to have an interest in becoming a dentist, students need to possess several other skills in order to pursue the BDS course. Following are a few more skills that are critical for excelling in this professional programme:
A passion for serving humanity
Strong mental makeup
Ability to resist obnoxious odours
Patience and calmness
Physical stamina
Interpersonal skills to deal with a variety of patients
When students complete the BDS course, they can become professional dentists. However, it is also mandatory for them to complete their rotating internship before they can take up a job. The course opens various career avenues for them. Although they can pursue the Master of Dental Surgery (MDS) course to widen opportunities, they can work as dentists in private or government hospitals and dental clinics after BDS. They can also open their own dental clinics to serve patients in their communities. Apart from that, students of BDS can go on becoming dental surgeons, oral pathologists, dental hygienists, or dental assistants.
They can take up a variety of job roles. For instance, students can work as medical representatives, medical sales representatives, consultants, public health specialists, dental lab technicians, and even professors in medical institutions. The specialised BDS course enables them to serve the humanity in varied ways. In fact, the job options are quite lucrative as far as the earnings are concerned. While hospitals pay their dental surgeons well, one’s own practice is also financially beneficial. The profession of a dentist or dental surgeon is also highly respected by the society.
After the BDS course, students turn into professional dental experts who can associate with research institutes that are involved in the medical and dental research. They can also work in pharmaceutical companies of repute. These companies even have their R&D departments if experts want to go into the research domain. Dental specialists additionally find great opportunities with dental care products manufacturers, as well as with dental equipment manufacturers. If students pursue the MDS course after BDS, they can explore a plethora of career opportunities, as they gain more expertise through a specialisation course.
To go for graduation in Dentistry, it is important that candidates apply to specific institutions after knowing all their eligibility criteria. However, following are the basic eligibility conditions they must fulfil in order to do the Bachelor of Dental Surgery course:
The candidate must have passed 10+2 exam from a recognised board with Physics, Chemistry, Biology and English as essential subjects.
The candidate must have scored a minimum of 50% marks in the qualifying exam. However, this condition may vary by institution and candidate category.
The candidate needs to appear in an entrance exam that is accepted by an institution to offer admission in its BDS course. In many cases, the NEET (UG) exam scores are acceptable. However, institutions may admit candidates based on their performance in some other exam. Thus, candidates must check every single criterion before applying to a specific dental college.
BDS is a specialised course in itself. While there are specialisations available to students at a higher study level, there are no further specialisations offered under the BDS course. They have to study all mandatory subjects. The course trains them in various areas like human physiology, orthodontics, oral surgeries, tooth morphology, and even the materials that are used in the field of dentistry. Students of BDS also receive training in several dentistry practices, general surgery, general medicine, paediatric dentistry, prosthodontics, radiology, endodontics, and even public health dentistry.