BOH Oral Hygiene UP
Oral hygiene entails the maintenance and care of the teeth and gums. The oral hygienist plays an important role in the evaluation, planning, prevention and treatment of diseases of the oral cavity. In this way, a preventative, educational and therapeutic service is rendered to the individual patient and the community. Oral hygiene is an excellent career choice, especially for female students, since it enables them to organise their working days according to their own needs. It is a challenging occupation with a high degree of job satisfaction, security and a good income. BOH Oral Hygiene UP
The oral hygienist plays a very important role in modern society. He or she is trained to inform people about maintaining good oral hygiene. A large part of his or her daily activities is dedicated to carrying out preventative treatment procedures. Since an oral hygienist deals with people all the time, he or she must have good interpersonal relationship skills, a spontaneous nature and lots of patience. Above all, he or she should have excellent communication skills, a sense of responsibility and the ability to tackle challenges.
Selection
The programme in oral hygiene is of a high academic standard, and consequently academic merit is of decisive importance for admission. A strict selection process is applied, since only a limited number of students are admitted. Candidates are selected on the grounds of their academic performance and the NBT. An applicant must obtain a valid National Senior Certificate endorsed for degree purposes. For final selection, certain minimum symbols are required.
Career opportunities
An oral hygienist may be employed in a general dental practice. Oral hygienists are also increasingly employed by specialists such as orthodontists, periodontists and prosthodontists. Further employment possibilities are with organisations such as the South African National Defence Force or elsewhere in the public service.
Individuals who are interested in academic careers may join tertiary education institutions as lecturers. Other possible employers are municipal clinics and health care organisations.
Contact details Ms Annette Welman Tel: +27 (0)12 354 2244 Email: annette.welman@up.ac.za
BOH Oral Hygiene UP
Admission Requirements
- The following persons will be considered for admission: a candidate who is in possession of a certificate that is deemed by the University to be equivalent to the required Grade 12 certificate with university endorsement; a candidate who is a graduate from another tertiary institution or has been granted the status of a graduate of such an institution; and a candidate who is a graduate of another faculty at the University of Pretoria.
- Life Orientation is excluded in the calculation of the APS.
- Grade 11 final examination results, the NBT results as well as a Value-added Questionnaire will be used for the provisional admission of prospective students.
- Admission to Health Sciences programmes is subject to a selection process.
- The applications of international candidates who come from countries that have medical schools will not be considered for placement in the MBChB programme except where intergovernmental agreements are in place.
- For selection purposes the sum of the results in six subjects, including English, Mathematics and Physical Science, is calculated.
- Candidates, please note that your APS may not drop with more than two points in your final school examination results in order to maintain your provisional admission.
- ?LEASE NOTE that compliance with the minimum admission requirements does not necessarily guarantee admission to any programme in this Faculty.
- Selection queries may be directed to healthapplications@up.ac.za.
BOH Oral Hygiene UP
| Minimum requirements | ||||||||||||
| Achievement level | APS | |||||||||||
| English | Mathematics | Physical Science | ||||||||||
| NSC/IEB | HIGCSE | AS-Level | A-Level | NSC/IEB | HIGCSE | AS-Level | A-Level | NSC/IEB | HIGCSE | AS-Level | A-Level | |
| 4 | 3 | D | D | 4 | 3 | D | D | 4 | 3 | D | D | 25 |
BOH Oral Hygiene UP
Description of the study programme
To keep pace with the modern requirements of tertiary training, the School follows a curriculum that is problembased, student-orientated and directed at the community, with vertical and horizontal integration of subjects. It is a three-year degree programme in which the student receives training in basic medical and dental subjects. Theory and practice are integrated right from the first year of study. The first half of the first year is dedicated to training in the preclinical training ward. Thereafter, students treat patients in the well-equipped Oral and Dental Hospital.
The work includes motivation of the patient, oral hygiene instruction, polishing, and scaling of teeth, fluoride application and the application of fissure sealing agents to teeth. In addition to his or her role as student, the aspirant oral hygienist has a variety of other tasks to perform. These include taking part in the National Dental Health Week and research projects, as well as visits to nursery schools and special schools for oral care maintenance. Community service includes visits to the Steve Biko Academic Hospital’s spinal unit and children’s wards, and a visit to the Phelophepa Health Train, from which a dental service is rendered to the community.