Are you being priced out of choosing Dentistry as a career?

It is worrying to hear that students from socio-economic backgrounds are being priced out of choosing dentistry as a career. Just one in six applications for dentistry last year were from students from a lower socio economic background.
This could be mainly down to debt. Dental students on average are graduating with £25,545 of debt compared to the average student with debt of £16,614. This will by no doubt increase further due to universities charging up to £9,000 a year for tuition fees. This could mean a dental student could owe a whopping £63,000!
Martin Nimmo, the chair of the BDA's Young Dentists and Student Committees, said the BDA had warned government taking on sizeable debts could deter potential students.
He added: "The BDA believes that dentistry should attract the brightest and best candidates, regardless of their social background."
So what does the future hold for courses such as dentistry? David Holden, Divisional Partner at Flame Health Dentistry comments,
"With university fees rising year on year it is understandable that people from certain backgrounds would be hindered from applying. With the high percentages of the youth of today being unemployed, fees like this do not help those who do want to better their careers. I am interested to see how the government could possibly tackle these issues in the future".