Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy degree to launch in September 2025

The University of Huddersfield is set to help address the national shortage of dental clinicians with a new degree starting in September 2025.

The BSc (Hons) Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy course will appeal not only to A-level students, but also to those currently working as Dental Nurses and is fully mapped to the General Dental Council’s Safe Practitioner Framework.

Register interest in the new degree

The course delivery, which has been designed in conjunction with a range of external stakeholders, will partner with a community dental provider to provide onsite clinic facilities. It is also hoped that students will have the opportunity to learn and work with dentistry students from other institutions as part of their studies. 

Students will gain insights into how NHS dental practices operate and how Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists work within the multidisciplinary teams through external clinical placements.

The University welcomes registrations of interest to receive further information about the course. This course will be based on the new National Health Innovation Campus (NHIC) close to the main University campus, with a host of purpose-built facilities. The first of the buildings on the National Health Innovation Campus, the Daphne Steele Building, officially opened in November 2024. 

Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists can undertake many of the treatments often undertaken by general dentists. Since 2013 they have been able to treat patients directly, without the need to see a dentist first.

Dental Hygienists provide advice on prevention such as diet analysis, oral hygiene education, and smoking cessation. They also undertake treatments to prevent oral diseases such as applying Fluoride or fissure sealants and diagnose/treat gum disease. 

Dental Therapists can undertake everything that a Dental Hygienist can plus they can do fillings, extract primary teeth, provide crowns on primary teeth, provide pulp treatments on primary teeth and, after further post-graduation training, provide composite bonding. 

Legislation passed in June 2024 gave Dental Hygienists and Dental Therapists the power to use prescription-only medicines without the need for a prescription from a dentist.

The degree will have three main themes which are embedded throughout the curriculum: 
•    Person-centred care and cultural competence
•    Pain and anxiety management
•    Public health and wellbeing

“I am really proud to bring the BSc (Hons) Dental Hygiene and Dental Therapy course to the University of Huddersfield,” says course leader Michelle Williams. “I am looking forward to sharing my enthusiasm for this amazing profession with the students and developing dental care professionals of the future with patient centred care at the heart of what they do."