FdSc Oral Health Science

The Oral Health Foundation Degree has been developed jointly by staff of the University of Essex and Queen Mary School of Medicine and Dentistry, University of London. The academic staff from Queen Mary contribute to the teaching and management of the programme. Queen Mary was chosen as the partner in developing and delivering the Oral Health programme at the University of Essex as they have extensive experience and an excellent record in training dental hygienists and therapists to the highest standard.

The programme

The programme prepares individuals for a career as a dental hygienist; successful completion of the programme leads to the award of a Foundation Degree in Oral Health Sciences and enables registration with the General Dental council as a dental hygienist.

The programme consists of 90 weeks of learning, spread over two years. The learning continues throughout the summer and does not conform to normal term times.

The content and structure of learning

The programme is based on the General Dental Council’s guidance document Developing the Dental Team and is kept under continual review to ensure that students are ‘fit to practice’ upon qualification. The content of learning includes oral health, pathology and disease; wider issues affecting the health of the individuals and community, including environment and work-safety issues, heredity, lifestyle, education, socio-economic factors and media influences. The programme ensures that students consider these wider issues and adopt a holistic approach to patient care.

Programme Specification

Key Features

Teaching and Assessment

FAQ’s

Entry criteria

Ability to study at a Foundation Degree level. This can be demonstrated by a range of Level 3 qualifications eg NVQ, A-Level, Access Course, BND. In addition, the individuals with NVQs and BND must demonstrate continuing professional development.