New city centre dental clinic welcomes its first patients

The University’s £5 million development will deliver emergency dental care to thousands of patients

Dental students treating patients in New George Street clinic

New city centre dental clinic welcomes its first patients

The University’s £5 million development will deliver emergency dental care to thousands of patients

Please note that the clinic is appointment only, with referral via NHS 111. It cannot accept walk ins.

9 February 2026

A new Dental Education Practice in Plymouth’s city centre is providing treatment to people in urgent need of help from today (Monday 9 February).

Led by the University of Plymouth, the £5 million clinic sees aspiring dentists and dental therapists caring for patients without an NHS dentist who a suffering with pain, infection or trauma, by appointment only with referral via NHS 111.

It dramatically increases capacity in Plymouth, treating patients five days a week and offering up to 12,000 NHS dental appointments per year.

Magda Farrant was one of the first patients in the new Dental Education Practice.

She said:

“I came to the dental school a few months ago in desperate need of help and had one of my follow up appointments today.

“The days of being able to have two NHS check ups a year just don't happen now, so to have something as accessible as this is amazing.

“The students have been wonderful too, and I'm really pleased to be able to support their education.”

Magda Farrant – one of the first patients at the New Dental Education Practice

The clinic is run by University subsidiary Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise (PDSE), and enables final-year students from its Peninsula Dental School to work alongside specialists and other qualified clinicians to offer high-quality care.

Work on the development began just over a year ago, as PDSE took a 20-year lease on Plymouth City Council’s former First Stop Shop in New George Street.

And the opening follows cross-party calls from Plymouth’s MPs to increase the number of dental students at the University .

Our state-of-the-art Dental Education Practice is the result of many years’ hard work and a long-held aspiration to provide significantly more urgent dental care and oral healthcare in the heart of our home city.

Plymouth graduates are renowned in the workplace, not only for their caring manner and high-quality training, but also for the levels of hands-on clinical experience they have when they qualify.

Our new world-class practice allows specialist and qualified dentists to work with undergraduate and postgraduate students; together they will provide outstanding patient care in an accessible high street setting. And, by working with some of the patients who are in most need of treatment, all of them will broaden their experience across a wide range of clinical disciplines, such as oral surgery and emergency dental care.

I would like to sincerely thank colleagues across the whole University of Plymouth and its Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise for all of their hard work and commitment in bringing this important health care innovation to fruition.

Professor Ewen McColl
Head of Peninsula Dental School

“A big day for the city centre”

NHS dentistry is under significant pressure, and the need for both routine and emergency dental care significantly outweighs the number of appointments available across the South West.

Statistics from the GP Patient Survey in 2024 show that around 1 in 4 patients who tried to see an NHS dentist in the past two years were unable to do so.

A Dental Task Force led by Plymouth City Council was set up to respond to this ongoing issue, with the University and its subsidiary Peninsula Dental Social Enterprise (PDSE) at the core. Following discussions with stakeholders across the city, plans were announced for a new Dental Education Practice in 2025 .

This is a big day for the city centre and for the Dental Task Force. This new facility will enable trainee dentists to get hands-on experience right in the heart of the city centre and will hopefully encourage them to join the NHS once they have finished their course.

One of our key priorities as a Council is to work with our partners to provide better access to dentistry and to start tackling the dental desert. Training more dentists here in Plymouth is a huge step in the right direction.

Councillor Mary Aspinall, Plymouth City Council’s Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care and Chair of the Plymouth Dental Taskforce

This is a really positive step for Plymouth.

The practice will make a tangible difference for patients who need care quickly, while giving students are trainees the real-world experience they need to become confident, skilled dental professionals.

It supports the Government’s neighbourhood health ambitions by bringing care closer to communities and helping build a stronger dental workforce for the future.

Jason Wong MBE, Chief Dental Officer for England

A track record of care

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 and Hygiene programmes work alongside experienced staff to hone their skills, and in the past year, they provided well over 35,000 appointments to more than 8,000 patients.

Devonport Lighthouse visit the Dental Education Facility

Those facilities are already running at capacity, so the new practice will enable more students to learn the skills they will need to succeed in their careers.

It will also provide a fundamentally different teaching experience from the current facilities by expanding clinical teaching in a setting that simulates a real dental practice as opposed to a large teaching facility.

Ellie Orum is a newly qualified dentist from the University who is working at the Dental Education Practice as part of her foundation training. She is originally from Plymouth too.

It really feels like I’m coming full circle, back to treat patients on behalf of the organisation where I learned my skills.

I went into dentistry as I wanted a career staying in the South West, and I’m really passionate about offering urgent care.

When I was at school, I originally wanted to be a lawyer, then decided to swap one of my A Levels to Chemistry and apply for dentistry. I remember having patient contact from early on in my degree and it makes a huge difference in having the skills and confidence to go and treat people.

I’m proud to be associated with a University that’s making a difference for local people, and hope the new facility will go some way to helping more of those who really need it.

Ellie Orum, a newly qualified dentist from the University working at the Dental Education Practice

Alongside the opening of the Dental Education Practice, the University is celebrating its Online nutrition clinic – where dietetic students offer free nutrition advice to members of the public – while looking ahead to the opening of its new Centre for Eyecare Excellence (CEE) in September 2026 . The new £7.7m CEE will offer more optometry appointments to the public, delivered by students under supervision, alongside specialist clinics.

More information

Study in our Peninsula Dental School

Dr Sally Abey, Professor Richard Davies and Professor Bob Fern outside Hepworth House, set to become the new Centre for Eyecare Excellence (CEE)

Read about the £7.7m Centre for Eyecare Excellence

Dietetics student Olli Rogers and Dr Louise Mole in the Nutrition Lab

Read about our online Nutrition Clinic