University of Kentucky College of Dentistry (DMD) Dentistry Interview — Format, Questions & Prep Tips

Kentucky has among the highest rates of tooth loss in the United States. What factors drive this, and what role does a school like UK Dental play in addressing it?

Tobacco use, poverty, rural access barriers, Medicaid coverage gaps, cultural attitudes toward dental care. UK Dental's community clinics and Appalachian rotation sites as pipeline responses.

Why come to a school with such a specific Appalachian oral health mission — does that align with your career plans?

Authenticity valued. If from Kentucky or Appalachia, make that explicit. If not, show genuine understanding of what the mission involves and why it appeals to you.

A patient in rural Eastern Kentucky has not seen a dentist in 15 years due to access and cost barriers. They present with extensive disease. How do you approach the treatment planning conversation?

Non-judgmental, prioritize by urgency, explore payment options, phased treatment planning, address fear of dental care. Respect autonomy while supporting informed decision-making.

Tobacco use is very high in Appalachian Kentucky. What oral health consequences of tobacco use do you see in dental practice, and how does the dentist intervene?

Oral cancer, periodontal disease, tooth staining, xerostomia, impaired healing. Dentist's role in tobacco cessation counseling: "5 A's" model, referral to Kentucky Quit Line.

Describe your manual dexterity activities and why you believe you have the precision for clinical dentistry.

Specific, concrete example. Connect to composite polishing, cavity preparation margins, suturing, or endodontic instrumentation.

UK Dental is on the same campus as UK's Academic Medical Center. How does studying alongside medical students benefit your dental training?

Oral-systemic connections, referral relationship building, medication reconciliation, recognition of oral manifestations of systemic disease. Specific clinical scenarios.

Why UK College of Dentistry — what specifically makes this the right school for you?

Appalachian health mission, UK Medical Center co-location, small class community, community rotation program. Avoid generic "it's in-state" answers.

After training at UK, what practice setting and patient population do you envision?

UK values graduates who will serve Kentucky communities — general practice, community health center, or rural practice framing is appreciated. If specializing, connect it to serving underserved populations.

Kentucky consistently ranks near the bottom nationally for total tooth loss among older adults. How would you explain the gap between Kentucky and lower-prevalence states to someone unfamiliar with the region?

Layer the drivers: tobacco prevalence, poverty, rural access, historical water-fluoridation and care patterns, insurance gaps. Resist a single-cause story; show you understand compounding social determinants. Hedge precise rankings.

At an Eastern Kentucky community rotation, a patient is wary of you as an 'outsider' and reluctant to accept your treatment plan. How do you build trust?

Cultural humility, listening before prescribing, acknowledging the long history of under-service, working at the patient's pace, and partnering with trusted local staff. Outsider-mistrust is a real Appalachian clinical dynamic.

A patient on long-term opioid therapy presents with rampant decay and asks you for additional opioids for dental pain. How do you respond?

Address the dental cause and use non-opioid analgesia first; recognize dependence/xerostomia link without judgment; coordinate with their prescriber; follow safe-prescribing norms. Balance pain relief, safety, and the regional opioid context.

On the shared UK medical campus, a physician colleague dismisses oral health as secondary to 'real' medical problems. How would you make the case for integration without being defensive?

Use evidence (oral-systemic links, oral signs of systemic disease, infection risk) and a collaborative tone. Advocacy for dentistry's role is part of interprofessional practice; combative responses undermine the partnership.

UK Dental has a small class and a specific Appalachian mission. How does training in a small, mission-focused cohort fit the kind of dentist you want to become?

Close faculty mentorship, shared mission with peers, deep regional clinical exposure. Connect to your own ties or genuine draw to the mission rather than treating small size as merely incidental.

Walk me through how you would carry out and document an oral-cancer screening, given the elevated risk in UK Dental's tobacco-using patient population.

Systematic extra- and intra-oral soft-tissue exam, palpation of nodes, attention to high-risk sites, documentation and photography, biopsy/referral pathway for suspicious lesions. Specificity signals genuine clinical readiness for this population.

A patient who has driven a long way from a rural county becomes upset when told their treatment cannot all be completed today. How do you handle the conversation?

Acknowledge the travel burden, consolidate care where clinically safe, prioritize the urgent problem, and arrange realistic follow-up close to home. Empathy plus practical scheduling for UK's rural patients.