BDS Admission 2024-25: Bachelor of Dental Surgery is commonly abbreviated as BDS, and it is a 5-year course in which students are exposed to the primary functioning of the oral organs. Adding to this, this is the second most preferred medical course among the students. This bachelor’s course strives to enrich the students with knowledge and skills in dental anatomy, oral treatment, surgical procedures, medicines, dental mechanics, and many more.

Primarily, this course aims to prepare the students for dental services by enhancing their skills through hands-on practice. At the end of the course, students will be able to resolve the oral-related issues faced by the patients.

One can become a dentist after a Bachelor of Dental Surgery program. There are various other options for Dental students, including dental researchers, forensic odontology, dental technicians, dental medicine and equipment businesses, lecturers, etc. Therefore, it is a program with multifaceted career prospects.

Regarding the learning mode, this program can be studied through regular and distance methods. Several colleges are fulfilling the educational needs of the students by providing either or both learning modes. However, many science students generally prefer a regular learning mode as it will enable them to acquire practical skills through continuous communication with their mentors and colleagues.

About Bachelor of Dental Surgery

As stated earlier, the focus of this BDS program has been entirely placed on various aspects related to oral parts. This 5-years UG level program deals with the medical concepts concerning Oral Health. Before pursuing any course, one must know all the desired course requirements. The basic features of the BDS course have been highlighted below:

BDS Admission 2024-25

Various Colleges/universities follow different processes for the intake of BDS admission. It generally consists of filling out the application, taking the entrance exam, and going through the counseling process. Most Importantly, the selection will be solely based on the entrance exam performance. For this, students must apply for the BDS NEET Entrance Exam and meet the cutoff released by the conducting body.  

Those who have qualified for the entrance test will be promoted to the next round of admission, Counselling Process. Qualified students will be called for counseling, and the aspirants’ presence before the closing date is mandatory.

BDS Admission 2024 Without NEET

“No, without a NEET UG score, a Student cannot get admission to a BDS course either in a private college or in a government college.” BDS Admission 2024 is a highly sought-after undergraduate course in dentistry in India. Admission to BDS courses is usually done through the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), which is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). However, in some states, there are state-level entrance exams for admission to BDS courses. Additionally, some private dental colleges may also conduct their entrance exams for BDS admission. Apart from entrance exams, some colleges may consider candidates’ scores in their 12th standard board exams for admission.

BDS Admission Course Structure: 

In the 5-years Bachelor of Dental Surgery program, students will be equipped with theoretical knowledge through group discussions, presentations, demonstrations, clinical activities, etc. Meanwhile, in the final year of the course, a one-year internship will be provided to gain insight into how to work in the formal settings linked to the dental field.

BDS Course Subjects

The curriculum consists of various significant subjects through which learners can excel in in-depth knowledge and develop a better understanding. Some major subjects are Oral Anatomy, Oral Histology, General Human Physiology, Dental Materials, Embryology and Histology, Biochemistry, Oral Pathology, Preclinical D Conservative Dentistry, etc.  

Paid Internship

During the internship phase, students join the medical clinics/hospitals as an intern and practice the knowledge they have already gained in the work environment. Apart from this, they are permitted to enter different departments within the timeframe of 1 year. Moreover, it facilitates the students to earn a good amount of money through the rotation-based internship.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the program, students will be proficient with basic concepts, theories, medical practices, and intellectual skills. The learners acquire some computer skills generally required in the medical sector within the learning phase.

BDS Advantages

Here are some of the advantages of the BDS Admission program listed below:

• The learners can become experts in the Dental field thoroughly.
• Soft skills such as problem-solving, critical thinking, and patience can be learned.
• They can work as an employee in hospitals, clinics, and allied sectors.
• The medical field is growing day by day. They can open a gateway to various career pursuits by entering this area.
• It enables the BDS graduates to start their businesses.

Bachelor of Dental Surgery Admission Eligibility Criteria

Before deciding on the academic program, the most important parameter is its Eligibility criteria. It includes minimum educational qualification, subject requirement, passing marks, and age limit. In the context of this, a brief description of the eligibility criteria has been stated below:

• Aspirants must have completed Class XIIth from an accredited board.
• Mandatory subjects should be Biology, Physics, and Chemistry. Under the elective subjects, Mathematics or any other is acceptable to opt for BDS. 
• Passing marks should be 50% or more. However, this mark is prescribed differently by the respective institutions offering BDS.
• Aspirants who fall under the 15 to 25 age limit are considered eligible.

What is the BDS Admission Process?

The BDS admission process in India is conducted through the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET), which is held annually by the National Testing Agency (NTA). NEET is a single exam for admission to all undergraduate medical and allied health courses in India, including BDS.

To be eligible for NEET, candidates must have passed Class 12 or equivalent examinations with Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and English as compulsory subjects. The minimum age limit for appearing for NEET is 17 years.

NEET is a three-hour exam consisting of 180 multiple-choice questions. The questions are divided into three sections: Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. The NEET exam is held in both offline and online modes.

Once the NEET results are declared, candidates who have qualified for the exam will be eligible to participate in the centralized counseling process for admission to BDS colleges in India. The counseling process is conducted by different states and union territories separately.

NEET BDS Entrance Exam

BDS Admission is granted in India if they clear the NEET BDS Entrance Exam. It is one of the national-level exams conducted by NTA. Most colleges/universities offer BDS Admission programs based on the entrance exam performance. Usually, it happens in May every year. Some of the information related to the exam structure has been shown below:

• The exam would be taken in CBT mode.
• The paper will comprise MCQ-type questions.
• A total of 180 questions will be given to the students.
• Specific subjects would be Physics, Chemistry, and Biology.
• Four marks will be awarded for each correct answer, while one will be deducted for wrong answers.
• The time allowed will be 3 hours only.
• Questions will be framed in 13 languages, and English will be one of them.

Preparation Tips for NEET 

To be very clear, qualifying for the NEET entrance exam takes work. Hence, some of the preparation tips have been pointed out below:

Be Serious: To qualify for any entrance exam, one must take it seriously. They should create a roadmap to achieve qualified marks and secure a seat in the reputed medical colleges. 

Set a Goal:

• Explore the cutoff ranks and scores generally released by the conducting body post-entrance exam.
• After getting informed, try to figure out the average marks required to be eligible for selection.
• Based on this, prepare accordingly by deciding the rank you wish to touch. 

Make a Time Plan: Based on the subjects and topics, a proper timetable is needed to fetch good scores in the NEET examination and further select BDS Admission. The best way to prepare the time plan is to divide the hours spent on the subject. 

Refer Books & Guides: There are various reference books available for particularly competitive exams, and one can search for them from the bookshops near their places. Also, they can easily download the soft copies of the previous question papers.

Practice with the time limits: It has been observed that students face difficulty completing the paper within the given time. As a result, they might end up with an incomplete paper. Hence, it is advisable that aspirants must know the exact hours that will be allowed to them. Afterward, mock tests should be performed to balance the time to solve each MCQ question and prepare accordingly.

BDS Top Colleges

In India, many medical colleges offer BDS Admission programs to medical students. Various factors, such as Location, Fee Structure, Ranking, Pedagogy, etc, are considered while choosing a particular educational institution for higher studies. As per the findings, BDS is offered by a total of 420 colleges in India. Here is a list of a few colleges offering DCI-approved BDS programs:

1. Government Dental College & Hospital, Vijayasabha
2. ESI Dental College, Raipur
3. Maulana Azad Dental College and Hospital, New Delhi
4. College of Dentistry, Indore
5. Jamia Milia Islamia, New Delhi
6. Dr. Harvansh Singh Judge Institute of Dental Sciences, Chandigarh
7. Maharishi Markandeshwar University, Mullana
8. AMC Dental College, Ahmedabad
9. Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Postgraduate Institute of Dental Sciences, Puducherry
10. Manipal College of Dental Sciences, Mangalore

BDS Fee

It is crucial for those aspiring to join a BDS admission course to have exact information about the fee structure followed across universities and colleges. Most often, it depends on the availability of facilities, amenities, teaching quality, and the institution’s reputation. However, the fees charged by private colleges are relatively lower than those charged by government colleges. And that is why students put their best efforts into securing a seat in government colleges. The approximate course fee for BDS generally lies between 1 Lakhs and 40 Lakhs.

BDS Syllabus

At the outset, the BDS is a 5-year course incorporating subjects into the curriculum. The course has been broken into two parts: four years will be for Academic learning & 1 year for internship. The subjects will keep on changing with the change of the academic year. The subject divisions as follows:

I Year	II Year	III Year	IV Year
Physiology	Dental Materials	Oral Pathology	Peridotics
Biochemistry	Pharmacology	General Surgery	Human Physiology
Dental Anatomy	Microbilogy	General Medicine	Orthodontics
Dental Histology	Pathology	Public Health and Community Dentistry
Dentistry Materials
Oral Pathology
Prosthodontics
Human Oral Anatomy

BDS Scope

With an increase in the medical sector, a broad range of career opportunities are available for medical professionals. It has been seen that the issues related to the oral organs are expanding, especially in the school-age and old-age groups. There is a need for qualified medical experts who can resolve and treat them. 

The students eventually get hired by popular companies and hospitals by joining this course, as most universities promise to offer placement opportunities on their campuses. Another option for BDS graduates is to build a career in the government sector. Such graduates can choose to face the governmental recruitment exams. As a result, they might be hired as dental officers, dentists for defense officials, etc. 

Despite that, one can also think of working as an employee abroad as it is a professional degree acceptable in and outside India. Above all this, a learning option is still open for BDS graduates, and they can go for postgraduate level programs such as MDS and other management studies.      

BDS Jobs Profiles

After graduating with a BDS degree, one can open doors to various job role opportunities in the medical profession. The employment areas could be Hospitals, Nursing Homes, Clinics, Medical Institutions, Research Centres, etc. One of the job roles with this degree is Dentist. However, several other job profiles range from private to government sectors. 

Here is the list of some of the job roles for the BDS Graduates :

• General Dentist
• Dental Assistant
• Medical Advisor
• Oral Pathologist
• Dental Surgeon
• Dental Hygienist
• Lecturer
• Dental Researcher
• Dental Officer
• Dentist in Indian Navy, Railways

BDS Salary

Dental experts possess the in-depth knowledge and skills required to handle and resolve the affected patients as soon as possible. In short, they are potential workers who can have maximum chances of being hired by reputed companies. On top of that, the recruiting industries will offer them an outstanding salary package. There is no exact figure that can be expressed here, and it keeps fluctuating depending on the work performance or change in the job position. On average, the salary of the dental professional comes under the 3 Lakhs to 10 Lakhs range. 

BDS Top Recruiters

For the students with BDS degrees, various companies are out for recruitment. Some of the popular dental companies/hospitals hiring qualified individuals are:

• Dental Clinics and Hospitals
• Medicine Manufacturing Units
• Pharmaceuticals
• Dental Equipment Industries

BDS Similar Options

Keeping BDS aside, one can go for other medical programs at UG, Diploma/Certificate level. Some of the popular medical courses are B.Sc (H) Advanced Dental Nursing, Bachelor of Oral Health, Diploma in Oral Hygiene, Diploma in Dental Assistant, and many more. After graduation, MDS is the most chosen dental course by students with BDS degrees.