a207 - Oral and Dental Health Sciences BSc
Oral and Dental Health Sciences BSc Honours
UCAS Code: A207 (full time: 3 Years)
Course Overview
This practical degree equips you with the professional skills you'll need for a career as a dental hygienist and therapist.
At a Glance
UCAS Code
A207
UCAS Institution Name and Code
NEWC, N21
Degree Awarded
BSc Honours
Course Duration
3 Years
Entry Requirements
A Level: ABB
IB: 34 points
Opportunities
As a dental hygienist and therapist, you will help patients avoid and manage oral disease by promoting good oral health and providing treatments.
You will work independently on patients, in close liaison with a dental surgeon. For example:
- evaluating the dental and medical history of patients and planning their care
- extracting primary teeth and restoration of teeth
- taking impressions and radiographs
This degree begins with a foundation in biomedical sciences, providing a basis for clinical work as the course progresses. Topics include:
- physiology
- craniofacial anatomy
- pathology of oral disease
Your lecture-based learning continues throughout the degree, with advanced topics such as human disease, managing medical emergencies, and health promotion.
Clinical work forms a large part of your study programme, helping you develop professional skills for your future career. In your first year, you will begin clinical training. From your second year, you'll be treating patients at Newcastle Dental Hospital and other clinics, under supervision of our expert dental team.
Quality and ranking
Dentistry at Newcastle is highly regarded; we rank 3rd in the UK in The Times/Sunday Times Good University Guide 2017 and The Complete University Guide 2018.
We also achieved a 98% overall student satisfaction score in the 2017 National Student Survey, ranking us 3rd in the UK. We also rank in the top 25% in the UK for world-class research (Research Excellence Framework 2014).
We rank 32nd in the world for Dentistry in the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2017.
Professional accreditation
This degree has been designed to meet the standards required for accreditation by the General Dental Council (GDC).
As this is a new degree, the GDC will be assessing the programme as it progresses.
Transfer to Dental Surgery degree
Any student registered on this degree may be eligible to apply to transfer to the first year of our Dental Surgery BDS degree at the end of their first year.
This scheme is highly competitive with a limited number of places available each year. To apply you must achieve a Merit in all assessments and have an A level in Chemistry (or equivalent qualification). You will be interviewed as part of the application process and must have a valid UKCAT test score.
Facilities and support
You will be based in the School of Dental Sciences, which is in the same building as the Dental Hospital. Together with the adjacent Medical School and Royal Victoria Infirmary teaching hospital, it forms one of the largest integrated teaching and hospital complexes in the country.
Facilities
You will have access to a hi-tech Clinical Simulation Unit and the Dental Learning Resource Centre.
Take a virtual tour of our dental teaching and learning facilities or find out more about our facilities on the School website.
Support
You will have an academic member of staff as a personal tutor throughout your degree. They can help with academic and personal issues. You will also have opportunities to interact with other members teaching staff.
Peer mentors will help you in your first year. They are fellow students who can help you settle in and answer any questions you have.
Social activities
The School is home to almost 500 undergraduate students. The student-led society, Dentsoc, organises social events to help you settle in and make friends.
Course Details
Modules for 2017 entry
Modules for 2017 entry
Please note
The programme information below is for 2017 entry. Programmes may be amended on an annual basis to take account of changing staff expertise, developments in the discipline, the requirements of external bodies and partners, and student feedback.
Programme information for 2018 entry will be published here as soon as it is available (end of May 2018).
Our degrees are divided into Stages. Each Stage lasts for an academic year.
Stage 1 - Foundations of Clinical Practice
You will study:
- professionalism
- dental, oral and craniofacial anatomy
- physiology
- oral diseases
- dental materials science
- interpersonal communication skills
- behavioural sciences
You begin to learn clinical skills during term 3, in a simulated clinical environment using manikins.
At the end of this Stage, clinical and communication skills are assessed by:
- in-course simulated competency assessments (INSCA’s)
- an Objective Structured Clinical Exam (OSCE)
This ensures you have developed sufficient skill and understanding in order to be safe to progress to direct patient care in Stage 2.
Stage 2 – Development of Clinical Practice
Stage 2 begins with an intensive clinical introductory course, and continues with clinical attachments to a variety of clinics within the Newcastle Dental Hospital.
During the clinical attachments, you learn specific skills relating to patient assessment, such as clinical examination and history taking.
You also learn and develop cognitive skills, such as:
- the evaluation of clinical information
- the ability to appraise critically specific clinical findings
- the ability to assess and evaluate new techniques and treatment strategies against current standards
Running alongside the clinical attachment is lecture-based teaching in:
- human diseases and the management of medical emergencies
- pharmacology
- aspects of dental health education
- health promotion and disease prevention education
- diet and nutrition
- clinical investigations
- treatment plan delivery
- professional standards and expectations
The Stage culminates with assessments including the presentation of case reports with focus on prevention of dental disease and the management of a case of early periodontal disease.
In addition, students are required to have demonstrated a number of core clinical skills through completion of in-course clinical competency assessments.
Students present group project work with a focus on behavioural management and promotion of good health with respect to human nutrition.
Additional knowledge-based learning outcomes are assessed, and students present a critical review of a scientific paper which forms part of the in-course assessment.
An optional elective period at the end of Stage 2 gives you the opportunity to organise a few weeks studying outside Newcastle. In recent years this has taken students all over the world.
Stage 3 - Enhancing Clinical Practice
You experience more varied clinical attachments and extend your experience.
You attend restorative and paediatric diagnostic clinics and develop enhanced skills, for example, in:
- diagnostic skills
- radiography
- management of patient anxiety
- extraction of the primary dentition
Your final examinations include:
- assessment of extended knowledge
- critical reasoning and analysis
- case presentations based on case reports and unseen standardised case presentations
You also take an in-course open book essay with a focus on professionalism/team working/ethics.
Throughout the course your clinical progress will be monitored by review of your portfolio data, supported by reflective logs, self-review and personal development planning.
Entry Requirements
All candidates are considered on an individual basis.
If your qualifications are not listed here, please see our additional entry requirements web pages to find out which other qualifications are considered.
The entrance requirements below apply to 2018 entry.
Careers
Dental Hygiene and Therapy careers
If you successfully complete this degree, you will be qualified to begin working as a dental hygienist therapist.
Being a dental hygienist therapist is a rewarding career that helps people take care of their oral health and avoid disease.
Duties include:
- evaluating the dental and medical history of patients and planning their care
- providing preventative oral care
- non-surgical management of periodontal (gum) disease
- managing plaque-related diseases
- extracting deciduous teeth and restoration of teeth
- taking impressions and radiographs
- the application to teeth and gums of certain medicaments such as fluoride and fissure sealants
- teaching of oral hygiene methods
- providing advice on diet and smoking cessation
- scaling and polishing
Please note: to practise in the UK, dental hygienist therapists are required to enter their names in the Register for Dental Hygienist Therapists, which is kept by the Registrar of the General Dental Council. There is a registration fee and annual retention fee for this registration.
What our graduates go on to do: employment and further study choices
See what our recent graduates went on to do and view graduate destinations statistics. These statistics are based on what graduates were doing on a specific date, approximately six months after graduation. The most recent data available is for graduates who completed their course in 2014/15.
The destination data is available in varying levels, beginning with the University and moving through Faculty and School down to individual course reports. This final level may give you some useful ideas about possible options after your course or a course you are considering.
Careers and employability at Newcastle
Newcastle University consistently has one of the best records for graduate employment in the UK.
94% of our 2014/15 UK/EU graduates progressed to employment or further study within six months of graduating.
Of our graduates who entered employment 85% were in a professional or managerial position.
We provide an extensive range of opportunities to all students through an initiative called ncl+. This enables you to develop personal, employability and enterprise skills and to give you the edge in the employment market after you graduate.
Our award-winning Careers Service is one of the largest and best in the country, and we have strong links with employers.
Fees & Funding
Apply
Applying to Newcastle University through UCAS
To apply for undergraduate study at Newcastle you must use the online application system managed by the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS).
UCAS codes for Newcastle University
- institution name - NEWC
- institution code - N21
UCAS buzzword
Ask your teacher or adviser from your school or college for the UCAS buzzword. You need the buzzword when you register on the Apply system. This makes it clear which school or college you are applying from.
All UK schools and colleges and a small number of EU and international establishments are registered with UCAS.
If you are applying independently, or are applying from a school or college which is not registered to manage applications, you will still use the Apply system. You will not need a buzzword.
Making your application
On the UCAS website you can also find out more about:
- application deadlines and other important dates
- offers and tracking your application
Application decisions and enquiries
Find out more about our admissions process and who to contact if you need help with your application.