Brighton and Sussex Medical School explains how modules one and two of its postgraduate diploma create the ideal foundation for a career in implant dentistry.
Entering implant dentistry can feel overwhelming. With a growing number of short courses and mixed-quality training pathways, many clinicians struggle to find a route that is structured, mentored, and rooted in real clinical practice. Brighton and Sussex Medical School’s postgraduate diploma in dental implant reconstructive surgery offers a solution that stands apart: a university-led, competency-based programme built around progressive skill development, mentorship, and supervised patient experience.
The journey into implant dentistry begins with the first two modules – two carefully designed foundation units that give new clinicians the essential knowledge, confidence, and clinical framework to begin treating patients safely and successfully.
Module one: patient assessment, treatment planning and principles of surgery
Where implant dentistry truly begins
Module 1 provides the bedrock of safe, predictable implant practice. Delegates learn how to approach implant dentistry systematically – understanding not just the surgical steps, but the deeper diagnostic and planning principles that underpin long-term success.
Core learning areas include:
- Comprehensive patient assessment
- Medical and dental risk evaluation
- Extraoral and intraoral examination
- Radiographic interpretation and treatment planning
- Case complexity assessment and patient selection
- Principles of implant surgery and surgical workflows.
Teaching is delivered through lectures, small-group sessions, simulation, phantom-head work and observation of live surgery. The focus is on developing sound clinical reasoning from the very start, ensuring delegates avoid common early pitfalls.
Mentoring is integrated throughout. Delegates receive feedback via competency-based assessments, including DOPS and work-based evaluations, helping them build practical confidence before progressing to more complex cases.
Module two: occlusion and restorative perspectives in implant dentistry
Delivered in collaboration with Dr Dev Patel – shaping restorative excellence
While surgical training is essential, implant success is ultimately driven by restorative planning. Module two, delivered in collaboration with leading implant restorative educator Dr Dev Patel and supported by Dean Ward, an internationally respected CDT, provides an in-depth exploration of the restorative philosophies, occlusal principles, and aesthetic concepts that guide implant treatment from start to finish.
This module aligns with the teaching approach seen in Dr Patel’s programmes, focusing on:
- Occlusion fundamentals for implant dentistry
- Prosthetically driven treatment planning
- Aesthetic and functional considerations
- Planning implant position from the final restoration backward
- Understanding loading protocols and biomechanics
- Integration of digital and analogue restorative workflows.
This restorative grounding is critical for emerging implant clinicians. It ensures that before any surgical placement begins, delegates already understand the destination: what the restoration must achieve, how occlusion should be balanced, and how prosthetic design directs surgical execution.
Together, modules one and two create the complete cognitive framework for safe, thoughtful implant dentistry – linking diagnosis, surgical principles and restorative excellence.
Early patient experience and supported case acquisition
A defining feature of the BSMS programme is that delegates begin engaging with real patient cases during their first year. Clinicians are encouraged – and supported – to start identifying suitable patients within their own practices.
The faculty assists through:
- Case vetting and suitability review
- Treatment planning mentorship
- Supervised surgical and restorative appointments
- Observation and shared-care opportunities
- Structured competency assessments for each stage.
Delegates are typically expected to manage at least six implant patients during the first year of their postgraduate diploma, giving them genuine continuity of care: assessment, planning, implant placement, provisionalisation and definitive restoration.
This approach takes clinicians beyond theory, giving them the confidence and capability to transition into independent implant practice safely.
Why these two modules matter
Modules one and two together provide:
- A clear, safe and structured entry into implant dentistry
- A balance of surgical fundamentals and prosthetic mastery
- Strong mentorship and competency-based progression
- Early patient experience under supervision
- A university-validated, credit-bearing pathway for professional development.
For clinicians looking to begin implant dentistry the right way – with depth, support, and confidence – these two foundation modules form the ideal starting point.
Applications now open
Clinicians can enrol in individual modules or join the full postgraduate diploma pathway.
This article is sponsored by Brighton and Sussex Medical School.
