Bachelor of Dental Technology

The Bachelor of Dental Technology is offered full-time on-campus at the Gold Coast campus Ian O'Connor (G40) Building.

As a full-time student, you will generally attend 28-32 hours of scheduled classes per week throughout the trimester. Classes may be scheduled during the day and evening throughout the week and on Saturdays.

In the Bachelor of Dental Technology you must maintain a full-time study load. Part time study is only permitted in circumstances where credit for prior study is awarded and a full time structure is not available as a consequence, or where a student fails a course and is required to repeat that year of the program.

To allow further contextual learning opportunities, the academic calendar for the programs offered by the School of Medicine and Dentistry will be extended beyond the standard teaching trimester (i.e. commencing earlier and extending later than the standard teaching trimester).

The School of Medicine and Dentistry delivers electronic assessment via ExamSoft's Examplify application. Students enrolled in this program are required to have access to a portable computer device (laptop or tablet) that can be taken on campus to complete examination and assessment activities. This device must meet the minimum system requirements for Examplify.

The School has a small number of loan devices that may be available to students who do not have access to a personal device. Students must apply for access to loan devices in the lead up to an examination or assessment. Please note the School cannot guarantee a loan device will be available for every applicant.

Managing interruptions

The following provides specific information on interrupting and resuming your studies in this program:

Leave of absence
Students will require approval from the Dean, Dentistry or nominee to take a leave of absence. The period of leave will normally be one year.

Readmission
A student who has discontinued enrolment in a Dentistry program and who is not on an approved leave of absence is required to seek approval for readmission to the program from the Dean, Dentistry or nominee. Readmission to a Dentistry program is not guaranteed and will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Students must complete and submit a Request for Readmission form.

Student Income Support

To be classed as a full-time student, you are required to enrol in a minimum number of credit points each standard study period. The minimum credit points for full-time enrolment in this program is 30 credit points.

Trimester 1 and Trimester 2 are deemed standard study periods. As Trimester 3 is a non-standard study period, continuing students moving from one year to the next will not be required to study during this trimester to be eligible for student income support.

Domestic students who commence in Trimester 3 may be eligible for student income support from the onset of study provided they are enrolled full-time in this study period.

Please refer to the Australian Government website for more details.

Work Integrated Learning (WIL) is undertaken in the Griffith Health prosthetic laboratory in the Laboratory Practicum 1-4 courses and culminates in the course 3029DOH Professional Practice (Year 3/Trimester 2).

Students are also required to satisfactorily complete 2 weeks (76 hours) of work experience in laboratories external to the University and independent of the school-based laboratory practice completed on site at Griffith University, Gold Coast campus. Work experience placements must be approved by the School of Medicine and Dentistry and may commence from Year 1/Trimester 2 and must be completed by Year 3/Trimester 2.

Griffith students enrolled in the Bachelor of Dental Technology program have the opportunity for a student exchange to Oslo, Norway in Trimester 1 of their final year of study.

Eligible students can apply to study at Oslo and Akershus University College of Applied Sciences (OUAC) in Spring Term (January-June) and students should contact the School of Medicine and Dentistry for further details.

As a Dental Technologist (or Dental Technician as they are often referred to) you will find employment with Dental Technicians, Dentists, Dental Prosthetists, Prosthodontists, Orthodontists, Periodontists, and Oral Surgeons in the public or private health sectors. Working to referring dental practitioners and specialists prescriptions. You will be able to design and construct appliances according to international standards that meet individual patients needs. You will work with a wide range of materials and techniques such as: gold, porcelain, plastic and lost wax technique and CAD-CAM (Computer Aided Design/Manufacturing). You may see patients to record the colour, shape and characteristics of existing teeth.

With this qualification, you can apply your scientific knowledge, artistic skills and compassionate nature across three distinct specialist areas - Prosthodontic, Conservative and Orthodontic - or you may eventually choose self-employment.

Graduates will be well equipped to sit for a 'skills exam' requested by employers.

Prosthodontic Technician (Removable Prosthodontics)
Prosthodontic technicians design and make full and partial dentures in plastics or alloy. Graduates will be well equipped for the variety of procedures and techniques to replace missing teeth and will work alongside dentists, dental prosthetists and prosthodontists.

Self-Employment
Graduates will gain an understanding of the operational issues involved in establishing a new business. Graduates may own and operate a dental laboratory.

Graduates can progress onto employment in management roles such as senior or chief technician positions; quality control technicians; teaching or dental sales.

Research opportunities
Graduates can apply to progress their research skills through an Honours, Masters or PhD qualification which may lead to various roles in academia, large-scale organisations (Corporations/Companies, Government Departments, Non-Profit/Charity Organisation).

International opportunities
Graduates will be equipped to apply for dental technicians registration in other countries. They will have gained the necessary knowledge and skills to adapt to the examination process required for registration.

The Dental Board of Australia recognises the Bachelor of Dental Technology as a prerequisite to Dental Prosthetists education and a requirement of national registration as a clinician. Please refer to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) website for further details.

There are placements associated with this program and before undertaking professional experience placements, all students in this program are required to have completed the following by the end of their first trimester of study:

• Vaccinations and Health Tests
• Licenses and Certificates
• Online Training
• Health Placement Requirements

Students should refer to the checklist of professional practice requirements for their Health discipline on the Health Placement Support Hub for full details of the requirements regarding professional placement to ensure that they meet eligibility for placement.

The Bachelor of Dental Technology provides a pathway to the Bachelor of Dental Technology/Bachelor of Dental Prosthetics (1580) or graduates may proceed to Honours.

From 2021, graduates of the Bachelor of Dental Technology may be eligible to apply for the Graduate Entry Bachelor of Dental Prosthetics (1638) program.