Doctor of Clinical Dentistry

The Doctor of Clinical Dentistry (DClinDent) degree provides graduate training in nine disciplines in dentistry. The aim of each discipline programme is to prepare graduate students to become registered specialists in that discipline. The programmes foster development of critical analysis, research skills, and advanced clinical skills that will be recognised for specialist registration.

The programmes include clinical research and clinical practice and prepare students to be both practitioners and advisory consultants in their chosen areas of specialisation. Within each programme, course work includes papers on research methods and practice, advanced clinical science, and advanced clinical practice. A candidate's research will be presented in a thesis and demonstrate a significant contribution to knowledge in a particular field.

Because of the different training requirements for registration in each area of specialisation, the programme entry requirements and lengths vary.

Applications for the DClinDent open on 1 April and close on 31 May of the year prior to study. When applications open, a link to apply will appear on this page.

Postgraduate entrance requirements

Entrance requirements for postgraduate study vary by programme with most requiring a minimum bachelor-level qualification in the same field, and some having additional requirements such as relevant work experience and/or professional registration in New Zealand.

A postgraduate certificate or postgraduate diploma can usually be taken at any time after the completion of your bachelor's degree.

If you hold an honours degree or postgraduate diploma you may be able to eligible for master’s study by thesis only. In some cases if you hold a bachelor’s degree you may apply for a coursework master’s degree or for master’s study by coursework and thesis.

To study a PhD you usually require the completion of a master’s degree, or a first-class or upper second-class honours degree in the same area of study, or a related discipline, as your intended area of research.

Check the postgraduate students pages for specific information on the entrance requirements of the programme you are interested in.

IELTS (Academic module) (including IELTS Online) : Overall score of 6.5, no individual band below 6.0

TOEFL iBT : Overall score of 90 and a writing score of 21 The University of Otago TOEFL institution code is 9483 (Please note we do not accept MyBest TOEFL scores)

Pearson Test of English ( PTE ) Academic : Overall score of 58 with no communicative skills score below 50

Duolingo English Test : Overall score of 120 (with no Individual Subscore below 95)