As a Bachelor of Oral Health student you'll develop all the scientific, theoretical and clinical skills to practice in oral health therapy — which includes careers as both dental hygienist and dental therapist.

You will learn alongside dental students at the Melbourne Dental School in a high-tech clinical setting. You will also have the opportunity to undertake placements in metropolitan clinics and rural areas.

You will learn from a clinical teaching team including active practitioners and world-leading academics who bring international leadership, research and policy expertise to the degree.

The Bachelor of Oral Health has combined vocational outcomes in hygiene and therapy.

HYGIENE

Dental hygienists provide dental care for all age groups. They examine and record the nature and severity of periodontal conditions, and clean, scale and root-plane teeth.

THERAPY

Dental therapists provide dental care for children and adolescents. They examine oral and dental conditions, restore and conserve permanent and deciduous teeth, perform extractions of deciduous teeth, and remove calculus. Under recent changes dental therapists are also able to provide care to adults under certain circumstances.

On graduation you could practise as an oral health therapist, a dental therapist or a dental hygienist.

In these roles, you may examine and diagnose oral and dental health conditions, plan oral health care, help prevent disease, provide clinical dental treatments, undertake oral health promotion and perform orthodontic and preventative procedures, including impressions and applying topical fluoride or fissure sealants. You will provide fillings and extract deciduous teeth for children and young adults as well as plan care, treat periodontal conditions and clean, scale and root plane teeth for people of all ages. You will also take and interpret radiographs, and work in collaboration with other dental and health practitioners to improve oral health.

We'll teach you how to work empathically with people to help them improve oral health, to plan and deliver oral health promotion interventions for individuals, groups and communities, and contribute to public oral health programs.

As a graduate, you'll find employment in private practices, public hospitals and the health services. You'll also find work in oral health research and teaching.