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University of Otago Dentistry Programme Content

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What will I study?

Study commences in the second year Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS). There are three themes that run through the entire course.

In second year the largest theme is Biomedical Sciences, which lays the scientific foundations in anatomy, physiology, and oral biology for the introductory clinical work you will undertake in the second theme, The Dentist and the Patient. In the third theme, The Dentist and the Community, you will learn about public health dentistry and about how to further develop your communication skills.

In third and fourth year the Dentist and the Patient is a major component of the curriculum. Here you will develop your clinical skills, initially in simulation sessions in our cutting-edge simulation laboratory, and then in patient sessions. You will cover a wide range of clinical dental disciplines including prosthodontics and clinical cariology, endodontics, periodontics, paediatric dentistry, orthodontics, oral medicine, oral surgery, and special needs dentistry.

To underpin your increasing clinical experience the Biomedical Sciences papers will cover general and oral pathology, growth and development, medicine, surgery, and therapeutics; while in The Dentist and the Community you will explore epidemiology and determinants of oral health and culture, and ethnicity and oral health.

In fifth year you will consolidate your clinical experience and undertake a research project, either in Dunedin, elsewhere in New Zealand, or overseas.

Second-year papers

• DENT 261 The Dentist and the Patient 1
• DENT 262 Biomedical Sciences 1
• DENT 263 The Dentist and the Community 1

Third-year papers

• DENT 361 The Dentist and the Patient 2
• DENT 362 Biomedical Sciences 2
• DENT 363 The Dentist and the Community 2

Or:

• DENT 364 Dentistry in the New Zealand Context *

* DENT 364 is available only for approved students admitted under the International Medical University Partnership Programme and having previously passed appropriate courses; students who pass the paper will be credited with the first-, second-, and third-year courses of the programme.

Fourth-year papers

• DENT 461 The Dentist and the Patient 3
• DENT 462 Biomedical Sciences 3
• DENT 463 The Dentist and the Community 3

Fifth-year papers

• DENT 551 The Dentist and the Patient 4
• DENT 552 Biomedical Sciences 4
• DENT 553 The Dentist and the Community 4

See Also: University of Otago Admissions

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