Patients frequently ask me to clarify the difference between a dentist and oral health therapist.
This question has emerged as the popularity of hygienists – or oral health therapists (OHT) – has escalated in recent years and is now considered the gold standard.
It’s useful for patients to understand their differences so they can make informed decisions about their dental care.
With a clearer understanding, both clinicians and patients can work from a basis of shared expectations.
What’s an Oral Health Therapist?
An Oral Health Therapist (OHT) is a 3 year degree-qualified clinician who has completed studies in dental hygiene and dental therapy.
An OHT mostly perform hygiene treatments with some other dental treatments for children up to the age of 18. These include fissure sealants, fillings and provide care for more severe forms of gum disease.
A dentist is also degree-qualified. They have completed five years of undergraduate study in dentistry. Educated in all facets of oral care, this higher qualification means dentists perform more complex dental work. A general dentist can diagnose oral health conditions. However, they may refer to other specialists if needed.
Both dentists and oral hygiene therapists must be registered with the Australian Health Practitioners Registration Association (AHPRA). AHPRA has strict requirements for registered dental professionals, including annual compulsory professional development. Working like a kind of guarantee, this ensures your dentist or OHT are current with advances in science and dental practice.
Your dentist and oral health therapist complement each other in the services and care they provide.
How do a dentist and oral health therapist work together?
Once you’re on an oral hygiene maintenance program, you would meet with your oral health therapist. This is usually every six months or might occur every few months depending on your needs.
He or she would clean your teeth and gums. They would also administer fluoride treatments and check for gingivitis and other oral disease.
As the name suggests, an oral health therapist will discuss the way to properly care for your teeth. Oral hygiene is their main focus and specialty.
Depending on the outcome from your check and clean, the dentist may also come in and see you at this time.
Often at the recommendation of the therapist, the dentist will be the one to diagnose any problems. This could involve examining x-rays, repairing teeth and prescribing medication.
They may perform procedures like root canals, fillings for cavities, dental crowns and much more.
In simple terms, dentists can complete more skilled treatment. A therapist provides more general care and education for teeth and gums.
Why see an oral health therapist?
Both dentists and oral health therapists can clean teeth at regular hygiene checks. However, there are great advantages to working with an OHT for hygiene.Their whole and sole focus in their profession is ‘cleaning’ and educating.
While a dentist is kept busy with more complex treatments, an oral health therapist will spend much more time with a patient, thereby offering a more personalised experience.
Another advantage to working with an oral health therapist is the fee is less than if a dentist were providing the same service.
Many oral health therapists are females. Some people may find it easier to receive their regular hygiene treatments from an oral health therapist. If you have a fear of the dentist, this is a good idea.
An OHT is qualified to treat both adults and children and can therefore see the whole family.
If you are on an oral hygiene maintenance program working with an OHT, this is considered the best option.
Still have questions?
If you’re still confused about whether seeing an OHT is a good option for you and your family, why not get in touch?
Our friendly team is trained to explain the difference between a dentist and oral health therapist and will help guide you in the right direction based on your specific oral hygiene needs.
As a Bachelor of Oral Health student you’ll develop all the scientific, theoretical and clinical skills to practice in oral health therapy — which includes careers as both dental hygienist and dental therapist.
You will learn alongside dental students at the Melbourne Dental School in a high-tech clinical setting. You will also have the opportunity to undertake placements in metropolitan clinics and rural areas.
You will learn from a clinical teaching team including active practitioners and world-leading academics who bring international leadership, research and policy expertise to the degree.
The Bachelor of Oral Health has combined vocational outcomes in hygiene and therapy.
Hygiene
Dental hygienists provide dental care for all age groups. They examine and record the nature and severity of periodontal conditions, and clean, scale and root-plane teeth.
Therapy
Dental therapists provide dental care for children and adolescents. They examine oral and dental conditions, restore and conserve permanent and deciduous teeth, perform extractions of deciduous teeth, and remove calculus. Under recent changes dental therapists are also able to provide care to adults under certain circumstances.
Clinical and real-world experience
In the first two years, you’ll undertake clinical work at the Royal Dental Hospital. In the final year, clinical rotations are undertaken at community clinics in metropolitan and rural locations.
High-tech facilities
The Melbourne Dental School provides the most high-tech dental teaching facilities in the southern hemisphere and teachers who are leaders in their fields.
Accreditation
The Bachelor of Oral Health is recognised in all Australian states and territories and in New Zealand and is accredited by the Australian Dental Council (ADC). Students will register as dental practitioners with the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA) upon graduation.
Please note: the Bachelor of Oral Health is not a pathway to the Doctor of Dental Surgery. This is a vocational entry-to-practice qualification. Applicants over qualified for the Bachelor of Oral Health may not receive an offer for the program.
You may be interested in a career as a Dental Therapist if you’re the sort of person who:
- Has an active interest in health care work and caring for others
- Has the ability to communicate well with children
- Possesses a high degree of manual dexterity and hand-eye coordination
- Is able to apply precise attention to detail to your work
- Possesses an artistic flair for form and design
- Is able to use your time effectively
- Works well in a team
Your role will primarily involve treating dental diseases in children and adolescents.
Actively engaged with a varied cross section of the community including schools, play groups and Parents and Citizens’ Associations, you will also work to educate children and adults on the best ways to maintain good oral health.
A typical day
While the exact range of activities you can be involved in will vary depending on the regulations in your state, dental therapists will generally undertake the following responsibilities;
- Assessing, treating dental disease in children and adolescents
- Providing general dental treatment for children including cleaning and polishing teeth, filling cavities, X-ray services and extracting baby teeth under local anaesthetic
- Referring more complex dental issues to a dentist
- Educating and encouraging children, either in a clinic or classroom, to actively care for their oral health
- Creating awareness in the community of the sorts of healthy food options that aid good oral health
The places you can work
Many dental therapists work in publicly-funded mobile, community or school dental clinics, often in regional, remote or rural areas; work is also available in some private practices or as the owner of your own practice, subject to working in a structured professional relationship with a dentist.
You may also find employment as an administrator of public health promotions, researcher into childhood oral diseases, sales and marketing manager in the dental industry, editor of industry publications and a consultant to other health care professionals and the public.
Obtaining the necessary qualifications
You will need to complete a three year Bachelor of Oral Health degree to practise as a dental therapist.
To gain entry to these highly competitive courses you may be required to sit selection tests and take part in an interview process.
To improve your chances of successful selection, completion of study in biology and chemistry at high school is advisable as is completion of
For a full list of tertiary courses Australia wide, please consult the
Your professional association is the
Regulatory requirements
To practice as a dental therapist, you will need to be registered with the Dental Board of Australia.
You are only allowed to practise your profession within a structured professional relationship with a dentist.
In line with all other dental practitioners, you will need to complete a minimum of 60 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities over a three year period (if you register at any time through this period, you will have to complete a pro rata number of hours).
You will also be expected to comply with the codes and guidelines issued by the Dental Board of Australia which stipulate, among other requirements, that you may only practise the profession for which you are educated and trained under the structured supervision of a dentist.
For further information on job prospects, earning, vacancies and training, consult
You may be interested in a career as aif you’re the sort of person who:Your role will primarily involve treating dental diseases in children and adolescents.Actively engaged with a varied cross section of the community including schools, play groups and Parents and Citizens’ Associations, you will also work to educate children and adults on the best ways to maintain good oral health.While the exact range of activities you can be involved in will vary depending on the regulations in your state, dental therapists will generally undertake the following responsibilities;Many dental therapists work in publicly-funded mobile, community or school dental clinics, often in regional, remote or rural areas; work is also available in some private practices or as the owner of your own practice, subject to working in a structured professional relationship with a dentist.You may also find employment as an administrator of public health promotions, researcher into childhood oral diseases, sales and marketing manager in the dental industry, editor of industry publications and a consultant to other health care professionals and the public.You will need to complete a three year Bachelor of Oral Health degree to practise as a dental therapist.To gain entry to these highly competitive courses you may be required to sit selection tests and take part in an interview process.To improve your chances of successful selection, completion of study in biology and chemistry at high school is advisable as is completion of Certificate III and Certificate IV in Dental Assisting.For a full list of tertiary courses Australia wide, please consult the
Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency
Your professional association is theTo practice as a dental therapist, you will need to be registered with the Dental Board of Australia.You are only allowed to practise your profession within a structured professional relationship with a dentist.In line with all other dental practitioners, you will need to complete a minimum of 60 hours of Continuing Professional Development (CPD) activities over a three year period (if you register at any time through this period, you will have to complete a pro rata number of hours).You will also be expected to comply with the codes and guidelines issued by the Dental Board of Australia which stipulate, among other requirements, that you may only practise the profession for which you are educated and trained under the structured supervision of a dentist.For further information on job prospects, earning, vacancies and training, consult Job Outlook
Dental Health Aide Therapists (DHATs) provide professional and culturally competent dental care and prevention services, fighting the decades-long epidemic of oral suffering and disease around rural Alaska and improving access to dental care for Alaska Native people. A DHAT is a dental team member who works under the supervision of a licensed dentist providing a limited range of services. Those services include patient and community-based preventive dental services, basic restorations and uncomplicated extractions.
The Alaska Dental Therapy Educational Program (ADTEP) is two years in length, followed by at least three months of preceptorship with a supervising dentist. Successful completion of these requirements is needed prior to certification by the Alaska Community Health Aide Program Certification Board. A DHAT’s education provides them with the skills to meet the majority of basic dental care needs in rural Alaska Native communities.
ANTHC partners with the Iḷisaġvik Tribal College and offers an Associate’s Degree in Dental Therapy. Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Arizona and New Mexico passed legislation and approved DHAT Programs in their states. ANTHC also provides DHAT Educational opportunities for First Nations students from Canada under the Jay Treaty.
Could dental therapists retrain to become dentists?
Michael Watson questions whether, with further training, dental therapists could fill the gap left by dentists returning to the EU.
An article in The Times caught my eye recently.
It said that pharmacists and paramedics could ‘help become doctors through a fast-track conversion course.
‘As ministers seek to use Brexit to loosen medical training rules’.
Sir Simon Stevens, head of NHS England, is ‘supportive’ of the idea.
He ‘suggests that pharmacists, of which Britain has an abundance, could retrain quickly as doctors’.
The EU recognition of professional qualifications directive stipulates that doctors must undergo a minimum of 5,500 hours of training over at least five years.
Britain remains bound by this during a transition period, due to expire at the end of the year.
And we will have to negotiate a divergence as part of a future trade deal.
Dental therapists becoming dentists?
I mused, how long would it take to train a dental therapist to become a dentist?
There are around 3,500 dental therapists on the GDC register.
They could fill the gap left by dentists returning to the EU or reduce the time spent on NHS dentistry.
An article this time last year said that: ‘When a dental therapist carries out routine dental treatment on a patient, the dentist is free to focus their time on more complex treatments’.
It also suggested that using dental therapists more was ‘an obvious solution to the problem where there is a shortage in the numbers of dentists.’
So over to the GDC’s Scope of Practice document.
This shows that a dental therapist can carry out almost every procedure that a dentist can do.
Except for the extraction and root filling of permanent teeth as well as anything involving laboratory work.
Looking at what a dentist can do, it is everything that everyone else can do.
Plus the full range of other treatments, not all of which are carried out routinely by all dentists, eg orthodontics and oral surgery.
Looked at this way, the gap between them is very small indeed.
The missing bits might become ‘additional skills which dental therapists could develop.’
Realms of fantasy
Now, if a dental therapist is working next door to a dentist, seeing the same sort of patients and doing the same sort of treatments, shouldn’t they be able to initiate and complete NHS courses of treatment and receive the same remuneration as associate dentists?
Come to think about it, shouldn’t they be able to be admitted to the dentists register and call themselves dentists?
With the option, as such, of joining the BDA as full members?
But as Captain Mainwaring in Dad’s Army might say to Corporal Jones, I’m probably now ‘Entering the realms of fantasy’.
