Bachelor of Oral Health

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.

Clinical and real-world experience

In the first two years, you’ll undertake clinical work at the Royal Dental Hospital. In the final year, clinical rotations are undertaken at community clinics in metropolitan and rural locations.

High-tech facilities

The Melbourne Dental School provides the most high-tech dental teaching facilities in the southern hemisphere and teachers who are leaders in their fields.

Accreditation

The Bachelor of Oral Health is recognised in all Australian states and territories and in New Zealand and is accredited by the Australian Dental Council (ADC). Students will register as dental practitioners with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) upon graduation.

Please note: the Bachelor of Oral Health is not a pathway to the Doctor of Dental Surgery. This is a vocational entry-to-practice qualification. Applicants over qualified for the Bachelor of Oral Health may not receive an offer for the program.

Career outcomes

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.

Professional recognition

The Bachelor of Oral Health is recognised in all Australian states and territories and in New Zealand and is accredited by the Australian Dental Council (ADC). Students will register as dental practitioners with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) upon graduation.

Further study options

Under our unique curriculum, you have the flexibility to enter the workforce straight from your undergraduate degree, or you may choose to progress to a specialised graduate degree.

You'll be eligible for entry into a range of graduate degrees in public health, health services management and research. Graduate degrees are also available in other areas such as the humanities and social sciences, business and economics, law, nursing, science, teaching and more.

Please note: the Bachelor of Oral Health is not a direct pathway to the Doctor of Dental Surgery

Honours

Honours is a fourth-year program that gives you the opportunity to draw together your previous studies and focus your knowledge, skills and intellect on an exciting piece of original research. Honours can further prepare you for employment or a graduate research degree.

To be considered for entry, you must have completed an undergraduate degree with a major in a relevant discipline (anthropology, earth, ocean and/or atmospheric science, ecology and evolutionary biology, economics, environmental science, geography, political science, social science, urban studies or zoology) with a weighted average mark (WAM) of at least 70 per cent.

About selection

• Please note, meeting these requirements does not guarantee selection.
• In ranking applications, the Selection Committee will consider your academic background and your WAM.
• The Selection Committee may seek further information to clarify any aspect of an application in accordance with the Academic Board rules on the use of selection instruments.
• Where our entry requirements mention a WAM and subject-specific requirements, please note that these refer to University of Melbourne grades and subjects. If your previous qualifications are not from the University of Melbourne, we will assess the results of subjects that are most relevant to the course you are applying for. We may make adjustments to your final WAM depending on the accreditation of your university/institution, subject grading/scales and pass marks.

Graduate Access Melbourne

If you're a domestic student and have experienced adverse circumstances that affected your tertiary results, consider applying for the Graduate Access Melbourne scheme. Through the scheme, you may be able to gain entry into this course even if your tertiary marks are below entry requirements.

Categories include being from a rural area, being an Indigenous Australian, experience of financial disadvantage or personal difficulties, having refugee status, or living with disability or medical condition.

IELTS: Score: 7.0, with no band less than 6.5.

TOEFL: Score: 94+, with writing 24; speaking 20; reading 19; listening 20.

PEARSON: Score: 72+, with written communicative skill of 65 and no other communicative skill below 64.

CAMBRIDGE: Score: 185+, with no skill less than 176.