Unit Synopsis
This unit introduces you to the profession of an Oral Health Therapist and to your role within the dental team. You will be introduced to regulatory, ethical, and legal frameworks which form the basis of dental practice. in particular, this unit will focus on workplace health and safety, infection control and prevention, communication, practice management and requirements for registration. This unit will also develop the foundation knowledge and skills in the dental environment as you commence preclinical and clinical training. An important part of your preclinical training in this unit will be to gain theoretical knowledge in radiation safety and radiographic imaging procedures and learn to take both intra-oral and extra-oral radiographs safely and competently in a simulated environment. Mandatory requirements for clinical practice including, First Aid, Immunisations and Blue Card must be fulfilled.
Details
| Level | Undergraduate |
|---|---|
| Unit Level | 1 |
| Credit Points | 6 |
| Student Contribution Band | SCA Band 3 |
| Fraction of Full-Time Student Load | 0.125 |
| Pre-requisites or Co-requisites |
Condition: Students must be enrolled full-time in CB29 Oral Health Course to enrol in this unit. Corequisites: BMSC11010 Human Anatomy and Physiology 1 and ALLH11009 Research Methods for Health Professionals. Important note: Students enrolled in a subsequent unit who failed their pre-requisite unit, should drop the subsequent unit before the census date or within 10 working days of Fail grade notification. Students who do not drop the unit in this timeframe cannot later drop the unit without academic and financial liability. See details in the Assessment Policy and Procedure (Higher Education Coursework). |
| Class Timetable | View Unit Timetable |
| Residential School | No Residential School |
Unit Availabilities from Term 1 - 2026
Term 1 - 2026 Profile
Attendance Requirements
All on-campus students are expected to attend scheduled classes - in some units, these classes are identified as a mandatory (pass/fail) component and attendance is compulsory. International students, on a student visa, must maintain a full time study load and meet both attendance and academic progress requirements in each study period (satisfactory attendance for International students is defined as maintaining at least an 80% attendance record).
Recommended Student Time Commitment
Each 6-credit Undergraduate unit at CQUniversity requires an overall time commitment of an average of 12.5 hours of study per week, making a total of 150 hours for the unit.
Assessment Tasks
| Assessment Task | Weighting |
|---|---|
| 1. In-class Test(s) | 60% |
| 2. Portfolio | 0% |
| 3. Online Quiz(zes) | 40% |
This is a graded unit: your overall grade will be calculated from the marks or grades for each assessment task, based on the relative weightings shown in the table above. You must obtain an overall mark for the unit of at least 50%, or an overall grade of ‘pass’ in order to pass the unit. If any ‘pass/fail’ tasks are shown in the table above they must also be completed successfully (‘pass’ grade). You must also meet any minimum mark requirements specified for a particular assessment task, as detailed in the ‘assessment task’ section (note that in some instances, the minimum mark for a task may be greater than 50%).
Past Exams
All University policies are available on the Policy web site, however you may wish to directly view the following policies below.
This list is not an exhaustive list of all University policies. The full list of policies are available on the Policy web site .
Term 1 - 2025 : The overall satisfaction for students in the last offering of this course was 100.00% (`Agree` and `Strongly Agree` responses), based on a 60.71% response rate.
Feedback, Recommendations and Responses
Every unit is reviewed for enhancement each year. At the most recent review, the following staff and student feedback items were identified and recommendations were made.
Source: In Class
Students expressed concern about the expectations for their first in-class written test.
It is recommended to discuss assessment expectations with the students.
Students received detailed guidance on preparing for the in-class written test.
Source: Email
Students appreciated the prompt responses to their emails from the unit coordinator.
It is recommended to maintain prompt communication by ensuring emails to the unit coordinator are answered in a timely manner.
The unit coordinator prioritised prompt responses to student emails to ensure timely communication and support.
Source: In Class
Students enjoyed the variety of practical activities in the simulation laboratory.
It is recommended to continue the variety of practical activities in the simulation laboratory.
The unit continued to deliver a range of engaging practical activities designed to enhance students' skills and knowledge in Oral Health Therapy.
Source: In class
Students expressed concern about the expectations and requirements for the portfolio assessments.
It is recommended that assessment expectations be discussed with the students, and written instructions on Moodle and in the practical activity workbooks be reviewed to ensure clarity.
In Progress
Source: In class
Students would like to see more links to real applications. For example, invite guest speakers from dental industry representatives or practising OHTs.
It is recommended that guest speakers from dental industry representatives or practising oral health therapists be invited to enhance students' understanding of real-world applications and practical skills in this unit.
In Progress
Source: In class
Students would like more opportunities to develop hand skills in preparation for hygiene and operative preclinical practice in Term 2.
It is recommended that the unit schedule to explore opportunities for incorporating additional hand skill activities in preparation for Term 2 preclinical practice.
In Progress
On successful completion of this unit, you will be able to:
- Understand the roles and responsibilities of an Oral Health Therapist as a member of the dental team and of the community.
- Demonstrate preclinical skills in the use of dental instruments, equipment and materials in a simulated environment including the techniques for intra-oral and extra-oral radiography.
- Understand the principles of infection control, workplace health and safety as well as the scientific basis, applications and safe use of ionizing radiation in dental practice.
- Demonstrate appropriate professional and ethical values and behaviors and communication skills for the dental practitioner.
The learning outcomes of this unit are part of the overall learning outcomes in the Bachelor of Oral Health course at CQUniversity and are included in the annual report to the Australian Dental Council (ADC).
| Assessment Tasks | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - In-class Test(s) | • | • | ||
| 2 - Portfolio | • | • | ||
| 3 - Online Quiz(zes) | • | • | • | |
| Graduate Attributes | Learning Outcomes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | |
| 1 - Communication | • | • | • | • |
| 2 - Problem Solving | • | • | ||
| 3 - Critical Thinking | • | • | ||
| 4 - Information Literacy | • | • | • | |
| 5 - Team Work | • | • | ||
| 6 - Information Technology Competence | • | • | ||
| 7 - Cross Cultural Competence | • | |||
| 8 - Ethical practice | • | • | ||
| 9 - Social Innovation | • | |||
| Assessment Tasks | Graduate Attributes | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | |