Dentistry at University of Liverpool Dental School (A200 BDS)

🎓 Liverpool Dentistry Interview Questions & Topics for 2023 & 2024 entry

Several topics are more likely to come up at the University of Liverpool Dental School MMI Interview, which can be derived from past Liverpool MMI stations and information on their website.

What does Liverpool look for at their dentistry A200 BDS interview?

The evaluation criteria for admission to the Liverpool BDS course include various factors such as:

• Communication

• Responsibility & professionalism

• NHS values and news

• Personal skills and qualities

• Ethics

• Personal statement

• Knowledge

💯 Liverpool MMI Interview Questions Scoring in 2023

• Liverpool receives around 700 applicants per year, of whom 330 are interviewed. Of these interviewees, roughly 160 will then receive an offer.

• Applicants will be advised of the outcome of their Liverpool application by 31 March.

❓  Liverpool Interview Questions - Past, Recent & Likely Questions 2023

Motivation to study Dentistry

1. Why Dentistry?

2. Why Liverpool?

3. What did you learn from your dental work experience?

4. What qualities of a dentist did you see from your dental work experience?

5. What is the role of prevention in dentistry?

6. What do you know about the Liverpool Dentistry course? How is it taught?

7. Why do you think you will be well suited to this course?

8. Why Dentistry and not medicine or nursing?

9. What are your hobbies?

10. Are there any societies you would like to join in Liverpool?

Personal Insight/Qualities

1. Why should patients trust you?

2. Are you good at simplifying ideas?

3. How would your friends describe you?

4. What are your best qualities?

5. How do you manage stress?

6. When did you last confront someone?

7. What are your strengths and weaknesses?

8. How would your friends describe you?

9. How would you handle complaints and criticism?

10. Give us an example of a time when you were resilient. Why is this important in dentistry?

11. What's your favourite medium as an artist?

12. Tell us about an article that you have recently read.

Dental Situations

1. I'm at A&E where a patient comes in with health complications that originate from dental disease. Can you explain how that can happen?

2. What is it called when a dental infection spreads to the jaw and neck?

3. If a patient collapses in the waiting room, how would you assess them?

NHS & Local Area

1. What do you know about the local area here in Liverpool?

2. What are the main challenges facing the future of dentistry in the UK?

3. What are the greatest challenges facing healthcare as a whole, and dentistry in particular?

4. How has COVID changed the way that dental practices operate?

5. How does oral health differ here compared to other areas in the UK?

Ethical Scenarios

1. Understanding of the four ethical principles

2. Should all dentists have good teeth?

3. If you notice that a colleague has turned up to work drunk, what would you do?

4. Who can you escalate concerns to within a practice?

Other Stations including Manual Dexterity

1. Photo: the image of decayed teeth - describe what you see here

2. Role play: explain to someone how to tie shoelaces

3. What interests do you have that has allowed you to develop your manual dexterity?

4. Role play: teach this person how to build this origami plane

5. Role play: the nurse leaves the room to attend to an emergency, and speak to the patient (general talk)

6. What is the most important NHS value and why?

7. You know a friend has cheated on their final exams at Dental school. What would you do?

8. Your dental surgery is struggling financially so you need to cut down on services. What would you get rid of and why?

👉🏼 Read more: 230+ Dentistry Interview Questions for 2023

🗣️ Liverpool Dentistry Interview Tips for 2023 entry

1. Practice Role Plays: Role plays are unique to Dentistry MMI interviews as they do not tend to occur in panel interviews. The only way to ace these stations is to practice! There are so many different Dentistry role-play scenarios that can come up, it is paramount that you read about tips for answering role-play scenarios. You might want to also consider practising this with a Dentistry interview tutor, or booking a 1-1 online mock interview.

2. How to answer the “Why Liverpool” question. Make sure that you can differentiate Liverpool from other dental schools in the UK. Model answer - “I am excited to apply to this dental school because of its excellent reputation and commitment to providing high-quality dental education. I have researched various dental schools and found that this institution stands out in terms of its comprehensive curriculum, state-of-the-art facilities, and distinguished faculty members. Furthermore, I am impressed with the school's emphasis on hands-on experience, which I believe is crucial for a successful dental career. I am eager to gain practical skills and knowledge that will allow me to become a competent and compassionate dentist. Moreover, I appreciate the school's focus on community service and outreach programs, which aligns with my own values and desire to make a positive impact on people's lives. I am eager to contribute to such initiatives and work with other like-minded individuals towards a common goal. Overall, I believe that this dental school will provide me with the necessary skills, knowledge, and experiences to achieve my career goals and make a meaningful difference in the lives of others. I am excited about the prospect of joining this community of dedicated dental professionals and contributing to its legacy of excellence.”

3. Practice Manual Dexterity stations - Assessing manual dexterity can be achieved either through practical testing or by questioning individuals about their extracurricular activities. It is important to strive for continual improvement in manual dexterity, and to reflect on one's progress and learning. Engaging in activities such as painting, knitting, drawing, sewing, cross-stitching, crocheting, origami, or playing a musical instrument can aid in developing and enhancing manual dexterity.

4. Dress well - What to wear for your Liverpool Dental Interview - Liverpool asks you to dress smartly as if you were going to a job interview. Make sure you dress appropriately so you then feel as comfortable as possible at the interview. Also, check your email from Liverpool as there are various documents they ask you to bring on the day.

5. Know your personal statement - reread any books or papers mentioned in your dental personal statement and try to follow up on any research that has been done on the topic since. This makes it easier to discuss should this be raised in the interview. These frequently come up at interviews - so make sure you can talk about everything written on your Dentistry personal statement and your UCAS reference.

6. Have examples ready to use: many of the questions asked at Liverpool are example-based, ie, they require you to draw on examples from your personal life, dental work experience and dental volunteering to help make key points that the selectors are looking at. As such, it is paramount that you spend time learning about these examples and thinking about different scenarios that you can use at the interview. It is helpful if these scenarios are malleable and apply to questions e.g. being a football captain, deputy head girl or playing in the school orchestra.

7. Personal Attributes - Liverpool has mentioned that they will ask you about personal attributes during the MMI interview. As such it is paramount that you go through and learn these. Liverpool has asked questions concentrating on your strengths and weaknesses, so ensure you have suitable examples. Check out our 200+ interview question and answer guide for dealing with similar interview questions. 

8. Know the dentist training pathway: this is useful to mention in answers to show awareness about the career in Dentistry - and demonstrates that you have a considered approach. Fortunately, we have created a guide for you to learn about the dentistry training pathway here.

9. Read the MMI instructions carefully - you get enough time to read the instructions provided before the MMI station. Make sure that you don’t miss anything from this. Plan how you will structure your answer in the reading time provided. You must practice MMI questions and ensure you think about your structure for as many questions as possible before your interview.

10. MMI Stations - remember that each MMI station at Liverpool is independent of the other. Therefore it is paramount that you try to treat them as such, if you have a bad station, try to forget about it and reset for the next station, this gives you the best chance of scoring well overall. Read our ultimate guide to preparing for Dentistry MMIs here.

11. Know the Liverpool Course - we would always recommend doing this for every university that you plan to apply to. It is paramount that you know about the different topics covered each year. How does this differ from other universities? What is their policy on intercalation? Have you any idea about what you would plan to intercalate in at Liverpool if you could or need to? If relevant, what do you know about graduate entry dentistry there? Remember there is very early clinical exposure at Liverpool - this can be an advantage!

12. Know the local area - Liverpool is a diverse region of England, with a number of local factors and diseases that differentiate the Liverpool region from the rest of the UK. Ensure that you research factors that can influence the oral health of residents of the area. How might this impact dentistry provision in the area?

13. Reflect Well - the Liverpool Dentistry selectors love reflection, make sure that you are good at not just stating what you have learnt, but also how this helped and what you benefitted from, and what you will carry forward about this at dental school and in clinical Dentistry. This is especially true when reflecting on your dental work experience during the dentistry interview, or if you are applying with low grades to study dentistry or have taken a gap year before applying to study dentistry or via dentistry clearing.

14. Don’t over-rehearse - this is a common theme amongst interview students and is very obvious to a trained examiner. As such, we would recommend focusing on the structure of your answer, and then naturally letting it flow when speaking to the answers, concentrating on the delivery of your interview answers. Read about our top tips for Dentistry interviews here. If you are struggling with this, consider booking sessions with an expert Dentistry interview tutor or via one of our Dentistry Application Packages.

15. Learning about the non-academic societies at Liverpool is important and might augment your Why Dentistry question as well as help you formulate an answer to how you will contribute to life at Liverpool University. Spend time on their website, or looking at their Instagram for ideas about societies that you could think about joining.

16. Learn dental ethics & NHS Hot Topics - you will likely be asked about dental ethics at a Dentistry interview at Liverpool, so there is no excuse not to brush up on your knowledge on these topics. Learn how to provide a balanced argument. Check out some of our free articles on NHS Hot Topics and our ultimate guide to applying to dentistry here. It is good if you have an opinion on them, as long as you present a balanced and well-reasoned argument, which side you choose does not matter but is helpful to have. Check out our bank of 200+ Dentistry interview questions.

17. Learn the NHS Core Values - This can be drawn into different answers about personal qualities or qualities of a dentist, which has formed a feature of stations in the past, and a good understanding of these core values will help you stand out against others. It is important to know about the NHS in general for your dental interviews - read our article here on this.

18. Good dental Practice - Liverpool also emphasises knowing the values and qualities of a good dentist, which can be found in this document and are likely to come up at the interview in the MMI stations. This is universal to many universities, and something that we always recommend students cover during their Dentistry interview preparation.