Bachelor of Oral Health

The Bachelor of Oral Health is a fixed, three-year, full-time program. It has a combined vocational outcome of hygiene and therapy and its curriculum reflects the latest developments in oral health.

The course has four main components:

Dental science: subjects that provide a theoretical background to the procedures used in providing dental care, including the structure and function of normal and abnormal tissues of the body and principles of treatment of desease.

Social science and preventive dentistry: subjects concerned with preventing dental disease in the community. Community studies and oral health promotion are a major feature of this component, but it also includes ethics, psychology, sociology and research methods.

Clinical dentistry: subjects related to dental auxiliary practice which are common to dental hygienists' and dental therapists' activities. They include infection control, instrumentation, dental materials, examination procedures and record taking as well as operative procedures such as fluoride application, impressions and oral radiography.

Vocational clinical practice: in this component the student follows either the dental therapy stream or the dental hygiene stream. The therapy stream focuses on managing dental decay in children, adolescents and young adults and the delivery of restorative dentistry within the public dental programs. The hygiene stream focuses on the conservative management of periodontal conditions.

The objectives of the Bachelor of Oral Health are to:

• facilitate the education of operative dental auxiliaries who are able to work within a dental team, adapt to change and educate themselves throughout their professional career; and
• impart knowledge, attitudes and skills in health promotion and health education, oral examination, diagnosis, treatment planning, operative and/or other clinical therapeutic skills that will enable graduates to practise those aspects of dental hygiene and dental therapy permitted by legislation governing the practice of dentistry in Australia.

First Year

Second Year

Third Year

• Problem solving and decision making skills;
• Communication and interpersonal skills;
• Experience in program design and implementation;
• Evaluation and advocacy;
• Planning and time management skills;
• Capacity and motivation for continuing independent learning;
• Appreciation of, and sensitivity to, cultural diversity;
• Leadership skills; and
• Respect for intellectual integrity and scientific truth