Dental Therapy and Dental Hygiene
Entry requirements
A level
Including grade B in Biology or Human Biology.
Extended Project
For applicants taking the EPQ qualification, an A in the EPQ can be recognised to lower the entry requirements by a single grade. For example, an AAB offer would be "AAB from 3 A-levels or ABB from 3 A-levels and a grade A in the EPQ". Please note that any subject specific requirements must be met.
GCSE/National 4/National 5
You must have English language or Welsh language at GCSE grade C/4 or an equivalent, such as A Levels (if you require a Tier 4 visa, you must ensure your language qualification complies with UKVI requirements) and four GCSEs at grade C/4, or equivalent qualifications (level, subject and grade).
International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme
31-30 overall or 665-655 in 3 HL subjects. Must include grade 6 in HL Biology.
Pearson BTEC Level 3 National Extended Diploma (first teaching from September 2016)
DDM in a BTEC Extended Diploma in Applied Medical Science.
Acceptance of T Levels for this programme will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the Academic School. Consideration will be given to the T Level grade/subject and grades/subjects achieved at GCSE/Level 2.
The Advanced Welsh Baccalaureate Skills Challenge Certificate will be accepted in lieu of one A Level at the A Level grades specified, excluding any subject specific requirements.
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About this course
Our aim is to educate professional Dental Hygienists and Dental Hygiene/Therapists eligible for unsupervised clinical practice (under the prescription of a Dentist) integrated within dental teams. The course has been re-validated by the General Dental Council as recently as 2015.
As a member of a team directed by a dentist, you will be equipped with all the knowledge, skills and behaviours needed to prepare you for the working environment of dental hygiene and therapy. On graduation, you will be registered with the General Dental Council.
The School of Dentistry is located in the University Dental Hospital on Cardiff University’s Heath Park campus, a 53-acre site shared with the University Hospital of Wales. This is where the majority of clinical teaching takes place on our undergraduate programmes. With around 100 undergraduate students per year, we are still a relatively small dental school. We believe that this facilitates a friendly and supportive sense of community that helps ensure that our students succeed. As evidence of such the NSS 2015 found that 97% of our students agreed that staff were good at explaining things.
Studying at the only dental hospital in Wales you will have the opportunity to serve and manage patients of diverse ages and backgrounds with a wide range of dental disease.
Dental hygienists and therapists work closely with other members of the dental team. A dental hygienist can carry out treatments such as scaling and polishing, oral health promotion and preventative fissure sealants for both adults and children.
In addition to the duties described for dental hygienists, therapists are able to carry out a variety of restorative treatments (fillings) on patients. They may also extract deciduous (baby) teeth, undertake pulpotomies (nerve treatments) and place preformed crowns on badly decayed children’s teeth.
Clinical skills are developed in the School’s recently refurbished £2.2M clinical skills laboratory, a facility that closely simulates the real clinical experience, allowing you to prepare and practice for patient care. You will have the opportunity to train alongside dental therapists, dental hygienists and dentists learning the same skills. This will support your understanding of how your role fits the dental team environment in preparation for when you qualify.
The dedicated dental library houses an extensive collection of books and journals to aid your learning. You will also have access to an undergraduate IT suite and to a new £1.5M redevelopment of lecture theatres and student social spaces on the Heath Park campus.
You will be taught by a dedicated team of academic clinical staff and consultants within the dental hospital as well as clinical staff working in the primary care environment. The quality of the teaching you will receive has recently been ranked the best in the UK for dentistry (Guardian’s University Guide 2016). The School's courses were given a maximum 100 out of 100 score.
Our students have one the best employability records amongst the UK dental schools. In 2015, 99% of our undergraduate students secured a UK position 6-months post qualification. Key destinations include primary dental practice, hospital dental practice, academic or research posts.
Distinctive features
•Cardiff University School of Dentistry was ranked 1st in the Guardian University Guide 2016 and the Times Good University Guide 2016, making it the best place to study as a dental care professional in the UK.
•The BSc course is delivered in the only dental school in Wales.
•We offer integrated theoretical and practical components of learning, teaching and assessment.
•Students benefit from early clinical exposure in year one.
This course does not currently accept students from outside the UK/EU.
Tuition fees
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Extra funding
Cardiff University has many scholarships on offer to our prospective students. Please see our website at http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/study/undergraduate/funding/scholarships for further information.
The Uni
Main Site - Cardiff
School of Dentistry
What students say
We've crunched the numbers to see if overall student satisfaction here is high, medium or low compared to students studying this subject(s) at other universities.
How do students rate their degree experience?
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Dental nursing
Teaching and learning
Assessment and feedback
Resources and organisation
Student voice
Who studies this subject and how do they get on?
Most popular A-Levels studied (and grade achieved)
After graduation
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Nursing
What are graduates doing after six months?
This is what graduates told us they were doing (and earning), shortly after completing their course. We've crunched the numbers to show you if these immediate prospects are high, medium or low, compared to those studying this subject/s at other universities.
Top job areas of graduates
What about your long term prospects?
Looking further ahead, below is a rough guide for what graduates went on to earn.
Nursing and midwifery
The graph shows median earnings of graduates who achieved a degree in this subject area one, three and five years after graduating from here.
£26k
£28k
£29k
Note: this data only looks at employees (and not those who are self-employed or also studying) and covers a broad sample of graduates and the various paths they've taken, which might not always be a direct result of their degree.
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While there are lots of factors at play when it comes to your future earnings, use this as a rough timeline of what graduates in this subject area were earning on average one, three and five years later. Can you see a steady increase in salary, or did grads need some experience under their belt before seeing a nice bump up in their pay packet?
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