Nurses have already been in the firing line, with funding for students scrapped in the November budget.
The BDA has argued that the next generation of healthcare professionals will now be saddled with unacceptable levels of debt, with dental graduates already facing an average estimated debt of £60,000 come graduation day.
1,231 dental students received support with their studies in the 2014/15 academic year, with £5,682,231 spent covering the cost of bursaries and tuition fees.
Paul Blaylock, chair of the British Dental Association's Students' Committee said:
"If the funding is cut for student dentists, the Government will shut talented young people out of the dental profession.
"These bursaries represent a lifeline for some students, and are not going to magically plug the black hole in the public finances. Already a typical dental graduate could expect to be saddled with over £60,000 debt come graduation day. These new loans will only serve to discourage students from poorer backgrounds.
"Nurses, doctors and dentists are at one on this. Government shouldn't be looking to balance the books off the back of the next generation of healthcare professionals."
Dental bursaries and debt:
• Dental students have to apply for funding through the students loans company for the first four years of the standard dental degree, from the fifth year of the dental degree those eligible for an NHS student bursary can apply for a £1,000 non means tested grant.
• For those that continue to study for a sixth year or more, dental students studying in London away from the parental home are eligible for a means tested basic rate grant of £3,191 + £1,000 non means tested grant. Those outside London and away from home are eligible for £2,643 + £1,000 non means tested grant. Those living at the parental home are eligible for £2,207 + £1,000 non means tested grant.
• According to government figures 1,231 dental students received support with their studies in the 2014/15 academic year, with £5,682,231 spent covering the cost of bursaries and tuition fees.
• In summer 2013, the BDA conducted an online survey of final year dental students to estimate levels of borrowing and debt among dental students, and identify the sources of borrowing and debt. This data has enabled the BDA to project an estimated debt level of £60,000 for students graduating in 2018/19, with almost all of this consisting of student loan borrowing.