Last Updated on August 23, 2023 by Sidharth PS
Do you want to become a Dentist? If yes, the BDS course can help you realize your dream! In this post, I’ve listed some of the best dental colleges in Kerala. You will also find details about dental courses, duration, eligibility criteria, and admission process.
BDS is a very popular course among 12th Science Biology group students. It can be ranked after MBBS (in terms of popularity). Each year, thousands of students in Kerala apply for dental admission. Many of them dream about getting admitted into Government dental colleges. Why Government college, you may ask.
The reason is that Government dental colleges charge very low fees. These colleges are funded and managed by the State Government. The Government takes care of activities such as funding, administration, recruitment of professors, maintenance etc.
Since the Government bears most of the expense, these colleges are able to charge very low tuition fees. At the same time, they hire only skilled and qualified professors (who crack rigorous competitive exams).
So students studying in Government dental colleges have to shell out low tuition fees. Moreover, they get a chance to study under skilled professors. These are the main reasons why Government dental colleges are very popular among students. Before heading to the meat of the matter – the list of dental colleges in Kerala – let us check out some basic details about popular dental courses in Kerala.
Dental courses
If you want to become a dentist, you must possess certain educational qualifications and certifications. BDS course can help you take the first step towards this career. The course is years long.
BDS stands for Bachelor of Dental Surgery. Students who have passed 12th Science with PCB subjects are eligible to pursue this course.
After completing BDS, graduates may go for MDS. MDS stands for Master of Dental Surgery. It is a Master’s Degree course. The academic program is years long. The
MDS program allows candidates to specialize in sub-disciplines and sub-branches within the field of dentistry. After completing an MDS, one may go for research-oriented programs such as Ph.D.
Apart from the above-mentioned courses, numerous paramedical and vocational courses related to dentistry exist in Kerala. Examples are a diploma in Dental Hygienist. But paramedical and vocational training programs won’t help you become a dentist though!
There are three main types of dental colleges in Kerala. Do you want to know more about them? You will find more details in the next section –
Types of dental colleges in Kerala
Based on the entity that owns and manages the college, dental colleges in Kerala can be classified into the following types –
- Government dental colleges
- Aided dental colleges.
- Private dental colleges.
Government dental colleges, as the name suggests, are managed and funded by the Government. As I mentioned before, these colleges charge very low tuition fees.
Aided colleges are private institutes. But they receive partial funding and support from the Government. Private colleges are owned and funded by private charitable trusts and organizations. These colleges are also known as self-financing colleges. They charge relatively higher tuition fees. Let us check out the list of colleges –
List of dental colleges in Kerala
Here are some of the popular dental colleges in Kerala –
- Government Dental College, Alappuzha, Kerala
- Government Dental College, Kozhikode, Kerala
- Government Dental College, Kottayam, Kerala
- Government Dental College, Thrissur, Kerala
- Government Dental College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
- Pariyaram Dental College, Kannur, Kerala
- Al-Azhar Dental College, Thodupuzha, Kerala
- Annoor Dental College and Hospital, Ernakulam, Kerala
- Sree Anjaneya Institute of Dental Sciences, Kozhikode, Kerala
- Azeezia College of Dental Sciences and Research, Kollam, Kerala
- Century International Institute of Dental Science and Research Centre, Kasargod, Kerala
- Educare Institute of Dental Sciences, Malappuram, Kerala
- Indira Gandhi Institute of Dental Sciences, Kothamangalam, Kerala
- Kannur Dental College, Kannur, Kerala
- KMCT Dental College, Kozhikode, Kerala
- Mar Baselious Dental College, Kothamangalam, Kerala
- MES Dental College, Malappuram, Kerala
- Malabar Dental College, Malappuram, Kerala
- Noorul Islam College of Dental Science, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
- Pushpagiri College of Dental Sciences, Thiruvalla, Kerala
- PMS College of Dental Science and Research, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala
- PSM College of Dental Sciences, Thrissur, Kerala
- Royal Dental College, Palakkad, Kerala
- St Gregorious Dental College, Ernakulam, Kerala
- Sri Sankara Dental College, Varkala, Kerala
Admission Process
Do you want to bag a Government college seat? If yes, you must take part in the relevant entrance exam and score well in it. Seats are distributed among deserving candidates on the basis of merit marks scored by them in relevant entrance exams and/or board examinations. Some colleges are known to conduct donation-based admission processes.
I am Vishnu Nambiar a career and educational blogger from India. I am also a full time educational consultant having more than 12 years of experience in the educational sector.
I share articles related to courses, colleges, careers, exam tips and more here.