Out with the old..
Bristol Dental Hospital, the place at which all Bristol Dental Alumni trained, finally closed its doors last Friday and the brand new Bristol Dental School opened to welcome staff on Monday 31st July 2023. As you can imagine, moving to a new site is not without its logistical challenges and the first three days of the week hosted a festival of dentistry where staff were familiarised with use of all of the new equipment, patient management systems, radiology procedures etc. without the added distraction of patients or dental students. The first dental students will begin work in the new School at the start of the coming academic year in early September and the official opening ceremony will take place on Wednesday 6th September.
In with the new…
Compared to the old site, the brand new facilities really have to be seen to be believed. A few photos are shown at the bottom of this post to give the reader an idea of what is on offer.
A major difference between the new building and the old is that the new is funded and run exclusively by Bristol University. The new building is very definitely “Bristol Dental School” and not “Hospital” with the BRI and NHS having no involvement in either the running or finances of, thus giving a degree of autonomy freedom previously unknown.
Largely due to lack of access brought on by Covid restrictions, interaction between the old School and BDAA has been limited to say the least but Head of School, Barry Main and School Manager, James Tubman have remained enthusiastic supporters of BDAA and we have still managed to support students in a limited manner through recent difficult times and with the opening of the new School, we hope for a resurgence and a return to normal, albeit in a new location!
Further reports to follow once the School is properly up and running.
