Dental Therapy & Hygiene

Dental therapy and hygiene is a registered allied dental health profession concerned with the prevention of oral disease and the delivery of a range of direct dental treatments. Dental therapists and hygienists work to promote oral health across the lifespan, providing patient education, preventive care, periodontal treatment, and a range of restorations and extractions within the scope of their regulated practice. Oral health is increasingly recognised as integral to general health, with links between periodontal disease and systemic conditions such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes making the preventive work of dental therapists and hygienists more important than ever.

The profession requires both considerable technical skill and the ability to communicate effectively with diverse patient groups.

At King's College London, this three-year full-time BSc combines the latest thinking in dental education with extensive clinical experience across a diverse and complex clinical environment. You will develop skills in oral disease prevention, patient assessment, periodontal therapy, radiography, direct restorations, and local anaesthesia, alongside the diagnostic reasoning and communication skills that professional practice demands. Clinical exposure begins early in the programme and builds progressively, ensuring that by graduation you have a breadth of hands-on experience appropriate to professional registration.

Teaching is delivered by internationally renowned staff with deep clinical and research expertise, and the programme is situated in one of the UK's leading dental schools.

Graduates are eligible to apply for registration with the General Dental Council and to practise as dental therapists or hygienists in NHS and independent dental settings. The profession offers a rewarding clinical career with good employment prospects and a clear scope of practice that is expanding as the dental workforce evolves. Many graduates build varied clinical portfolios working across community, hospital, and practice settings.

Advanced practice routes, postgraduate qualifications, and roles in dental education and public health are available to experienced practitioners who wish to develop their careers further.