Bachelor of Dental hygiene

Professional Prospects

The 3 year Bachelor programme in dental hygiene leads to authorisation to practice as a dental hygienist.

Objectives and content

The bachelor's degree programme in dental hygiene is a programme of a professional study leading to the degree Bachelor of Dental Hygiene. It is a three-year programme (180 credits).

The bachelor programme aims to qualify dental hygienists for health-promoting and disease-prevention work, and to develop practical clinical skills and an understanding of disease in a social, psychological and educational context. The programme also aims to provide candidates with a basis for life-long learning, specialisation and researcher training. The study programme is intended to ensure that society has candidates with the knowledge, attitudes and skills required for the satisfactory practice of dental hygiene, and to qualify dental hygienists as first-line contacts in the dental health service. This means competence in assessing dental health problems and deciding whether they should be treated by a dentist or a dental hygienist. The teaching should, as far as possible, be research-based, up-to-date and adapted to the needs of society and the population for the prevention of oral diseases and conditions.

The programme is designed to help dental hygiene students to develop the knowledge, skills and attitudes required to enable them to plan, carry out and assess their work in relation to patients' needs and society's priorities.

The bachelor's degree programme in dental hygiene aims to qualify dental hygienists for cooperation with other dental health care personnel and for good interdisciplinary cooperation with other relevant groups of personnel.

Required Learning Outcomes

Knowledge

The candidates should be capable of explaining relevant topics in preclinical, paraclinical, clinical and behavioural disciplines. In particular, they should be able to explain social factors in the understanding of disease with relevance to oral diseases/conditions.

Skills

The candidates should be able to communicate with patients and groups of patients with a view to bringing about behavioural changes, disseminating knowledge and providing information about various clinical topics (information about treatment) using different media.

The candidates should be able to work clinically with respect to diagnostics, screening, prophylaxis, hygiene phase work and maintenance treatment at the group and individual level.

General competence

Candidates should be capable of mastering their role in a health team (dental clinics, nursing homes, hospitals etc.) and be able to demonstrate adequate attitudes and abilities as regards ethics, respect, professionalism, cooperation and life-long learning. Candidates must be able to critically assess their own practice.

Stipulations regarding progress

Participation in tuition and clinical service is compulsory for most courses in the programme. Students must have attended the compulsory tuition, and the tests stipulated in the curriculum must be passed before students can proceed to clinical service or sit the final exams in a course. From the third semester, the clinical service is assessed on the basis of qualitative and quantitative criteria at the end of each semester. The clinical service must be approved in its entirety before the students can proceed to the next year of the programme. The compulsory attendance requirement is defined as 90% attendance.

Study period abroad

Students in the bachelor's degree programme in dental hygiene can apply for a study period abroad in the autumn of their third year. Applicants must be up-to-date with their studies when they apply for an exchange.

The deadlines for applications are 1 February and 1 September.

Dental hygiene students can apply to go to: 

- University of Minnesota, USA (Minneapolis)

- Aarhus University, Denmark (Aarhus)

Grading scale

A-F

Evaluation

Written evaluation via My Space.

Administrative responsibility

Faculty of medicine and dentistry

Application procedyre

Higher education entrance qualifications or equivalent prior learning and work experience. Applicants must also meet science subject requirements (MEROD requirements): mathematics R1 or mathematics S1+S2, physics 1, chemistry 1+2.There is also a demand for proficiency in Norwegian.

Admission to the Bachelor of Dental hygiene programme is coordinated through The Norwegian Universities and Colleges Admission Service (NUCAS). Look at NUCAS web site for information on how to apply and about Norwegian and English language requirements. All the programs that go through NUCAS require that the applicant have a permanent/renewable residence permit in Norway. http://www.samordnaopptak.no/info/english/

If you have foreign higher education and wish to know how your qualification relates to the Norwegian education system, you can consult The Norwegian Agency for Quality Assurance in Education (NOKUT):http://nokut.no/en/Foreign-education/General-recognition/

Please consult UiB's home page http://www.uib.no/education for information on courses for exchange students.

Required Learning Outcomes

Knowledge

The candidates should be capable of explaining relevant topics in preclinical, paraclinical, clinical and behavioural disciplines. In particular, they should be able to explain social factors in the understanding of disease with relevance to oral diseases/conditions.

Skills

The candidates should be able to communicate with patients and groups of patients with a view to bringing about behavioural changes, disseminating knowledge and providing information about various clinical topics (information about treatment) using different media.

The candidates should be able to work clinically with respect to diagnostics, screening, prophylaxis, hygiene phase work and maintenance treatment at the group and individual level.

General competence

Candidates should be capable of mastering their role in a health team (dental clinics, nursing homes, hospitals etc.) and be able to demonstrate adequate attitudes and abilities as regards ethics, respect, professionalism, cooperation and life-long learning. Candidates must be able to critically assess their own practice.