Dental Hygiene

Overview
Dental hygienists treat and prevent oral diseases. They support people in maintaining their oral health by providing treatments and advice designed to improve the health of the mouth, teeth and gums.

If you want a career as a dental hygienist, this BSc (Hons) Dental Hygiene degree course is for you.

Studying in our Dental Academy, you’ll get the skills and knowledge for registration with the General Dental Council (GDC), which is essential for practicing as a dental hygienist.

• Be taught in our Dental Academy, complete with the latest technology used in dental practices including 2 clinics with 44 dental treatment bays, 2 individual surgeries, a phantom head room, a new haptics suite, a decontamination suite, and radiography booths

• Build your experience working as part of a dental team, studying alongside dental therapy, dental nursing and dental students as well as qualified professionals

• Get out of the classroom to work with real patients, performing dental procedures and taking part in local community outreach projects

NHS Learning Support Fund
Students on this course may be eligible for additional funding through the NHS Learning Support Fund bursary of at least £5,000 a year.

Professional recognitions
This programme has been provisionally accepted to commence delivery by the General Dental Council (GDC) following a paper-based submission. The GDC Quality Assurance Team will carry out an on-site inspection of the programme and examinations prior to the first cohort of students qualifying, wherein approval for the purposes of registration with the GDC will be assessed by an expert panel of inspectors. This is the process for all new dental care professional (DCP) programmes.

The GDC continually assess the course to make sure it meets the standard required for accreditation, so you’ll know you’re getting the most relevant and up-to-date teaching available.

Careers and opportunities
As the title suggests, dental hygienists help patients keep their teeth clean, but there's much more to the role than this alone.

Dental hygienists provide treatments, carry out procedures and give dietary and oral hygiene advice to maintain a healthy mouth, teeth and gums. Patients are often referred to dental hygienists by dentists, although many opt to see a hygienist regularly themselves.

Dental hygienists are needed in both the NHS and within private healthcare. Once you graduate you'll be ready to take your skills into areas such as general dental practice, hospital dental services or the Armed Forces, so you'll have great employment prospects as you embark on your dental career.

Looking to study dental hygiene and learn how to carry out additional procedures such as fillings and extractions? Take a look at our BSc (Hons) Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy degree.

What areas can you work in with a dental hygiene degree?
When you graduate, you'll be qualified to work in areas such as:

• general dental practice

• hospital dental services

• the Armed Forces

• the NHS

• health promotion

You could also continue your studies or do research at postgraduate level.

Work experience with patients in the community
To help you gain professional experience, you'll help to provide free dental health services to the public at the Dental Academy and work with patients in local community settings.

You'll have the chance to offer preventative and educational dental support within institutions such as school clinics and hostels for homeless people, enabling you to gain a better understanding of the social impact of good dental care.

Our community work experience projects include:

• outreach activity in community surgeries and maxillofacial departments in local hospitals

• oral health promotion

• supervised tooth brushing in infant schools

• helping staff to develop oral care plans in residential homes

• providing dental screening to offenders in the probation service

Year 1

Core modules in this year include:

• Foundation of Evidence Based Practice (Dental) (20 credits)
• Foundations of Dental Hygiene Practice (40 credits)
• Fundamentals of Dental Hygiene Practice (20 credits)
• Science Informing Practice (Dental) (40 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

Year 2

Core modules in this year include:

• Applied Dental Hygiene Professional Practice (40 credits)
• Communication for the Dental Team (20 credits)
• Dental Radiography (20 credits)
• Engaging with Service Improvement (Dental) (20 credits)
• Evidence Based Decision Making (Dental) (20 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

Year 3

Core modules in this year include:

• Behaviour Management (20 credits)
• Enhancing Dental Hygiene Professional Practice (40 credits)
• Leading Safe and Effective Care (Dental) (20 credits)
• Project (40 credits)

There are no optional modules in this year.

We use the best and most current research and professional practice alongside feedback from our students to make sure course content is relevant to your future career or further studies.

Therefore, some course content may change over time to reflect changes in the discipline or industry and some optional modules may not run every year. If a module doesn’t run, we’ll let you know as soon as possible and help you choose an alternative module.

You’ll be assessed through written examinations, computer examinations, presentations, coursework.
You’ll be able to test your skills and knowledge informally before you do assessments that count towards your final mark.
You can get feedback on all practice and formal assessments so you can improve in the future.

Professionally accredited courses provide industry-wide recognition of the quality of your qualification.

• General Dental Council