Course summary

In December 2024, the University of Bolton was granted permission by the Office for Students (OfS) to change its name to the University of Greater Manchester with immediate effect. While we work to update our systems, you may see both names used in the information we provide. The BSc (Hons) Dental Hygiene and Therapy trains you to work as a Dental Hygienist and Therapist, offering a variety of dental services directly to patients. Our expert team combines clinical skills training with the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and professional attributes at all levels of the programme. All teaching and learning activities are patient and student-centred and specifically designed to ensure you are fully prepared for a career as a Dental Care Professional (DCP). The BSc (Hons) Dental Hygiene and Therapy is a comprehensive programme blending theory and clinical practice. This qualification is ideal for individuals wishing to start a career in the clinical dental field as a Dental Care Professional (DCP). Dental Hygienists and Therapists are registered dental professionals who help patients maintain their oral health by preventing and treating periodontal disease and promoting good oral health practice. Dental Hygienists can undertake a wide range of activities within their scope of practice, including scaling, treating periodontal disease, oral health promotion and application of fissure sealants. Dental Therapists can undertake additional duties such as restorations in primary and permanent teeth, pulp treatments and extractions of primary teeth. Upon completing this programme, you will be able to confidently treat and identify suitable cases within your scope of competency. Teaching will be delivered using a blended approach, using face-to-face and dispersed teaching methods. Clinical placement is at the core of the programme’s delivery, through which you will gain competence in the clinical skills, communication, behaviours and confidence required to practise as a Dental Hygienist and Therapist, under the GDC’s Safe Practitioner framework requirements. The curriculum promotes critical thinking, teamwork and working independently. Apart from the well-established, in academia, written assessments (exams, reports, etc.), this programme includes a broad range of contemporary types of assessment aiming at consolidating your learning. Examples of such assessments include direct observation of procedural skills (DOPS), integrated structured clinical examination (ISCE), and role plays. The programme has been carefully planned to ensure that modules provide a scaffolded approach to learning, with earlier modules underpinning later ones and the contents of one module complementing another taught in the academic year. For example, after spending 90 hours in the second semester doing practical work in the dental manikins’ Dental Skills Laboratory simulating the clinical environment, you will enter the training placement environment working with patients.