The University of Sydney

If you haven’t completed your undergraduate degree, you’ll only be eligible to apply to undergraduate dental degrees. Only your current university GPA will be considered, not your high school GPA. Your high school courses will be assessed to ensure prerequisites are met, e.g., English requirements, math, science, etc.

You are eligible to apply to graduate-entry dental degrees with a completed three-year undergraduate degree. If you haven’t completed your degree, you may consider applying to an undergraduate dental degree and have your university studies and GPA assessed, along with prerequisite high school subjects.

James Cook University is the only undergraduate-entry dental program that has rolling admissions (first come, first served). Offers start in June and close in August at their deadline when all seats are filled.

James Cook University is the only university that requires a supplemental form as part of its admissions requirements. It has approximately 5 questions to answer in short essay format. JCU also allows up to 3 reference letters to be included in the application.

Only James Cook University Dental School will consider up to 3 reference letters and work/volunteer experience, which you can include in the supplemental application. The other OzTREKK-represented dental schools do not considering volunteer or work/shadowing experience.

If you have a bachelor’s degree and have completed the Canadian or American DAT, you may be eligible to apply to graduate dentistry degrees like the Doctor of Dental Medicine or the Doctor of Dental Surgery.

Just finishing high school or partially finished an undergraduate degree? Undergraduate dentistry degrees like the Bachelor of Dental Science and Bachelor of Dental Surgery may be options for you. Check out the admissions requirements.

Students are eligible to apply for undergraduate-entry degrees straight from high school, with a partially finished undergraduate degree, or with a completed undergraduate degree. These programs do not require a DAT, and are 5 years in length.

If you have a completed undergraduate degree and have written the Canadian or American DAT, you are eligible to apply to graduate-entry dentistry degrees. These programs are 4 years in length.

Both bachelor and master (doctor) dentistry degrees allow the graduate to practice dentistry.

The Australian and New Zealand universities OzTREKK represent are ranked highly by higher education ranking systems. Each dental program is known by the quality of its education, its state-of-the-art facilities, and by its specialties e.g., rural and remote dentistry. Deciding which program to undertake is usually a personal choice, but chatting with OzTREKK’s dentistry admissions officer is usually the best place to start!

Bachelor dentistry degrees are considered undergraduate degrees and are open to students who have a high school diploma. Master (or doctor) dentistry degrees are considered graduate degrees; therefore, candidates must hold an undergraduate degree to qualify for entry.

While the Doctor of Dental Surgery or Doctor of Dental Medicine has “doctor” in their titles, it is considered a master’s degree. A doctorate degree is considered a research degree (PhD).

Both bachelor and master (or doctor) dentistry degrees allow the graduate to practice dentistry.

If you don’t meet the minimum requirements on your DAT, OzTREKK is unable to submit the application to the universities. As soon as the university receives an ineligible DAT, the application is deemed unsuccessful.

1. Re-sit the DAT
If the DAT sit date is coming up in Canada, you can re-sit the test and hope to receive an eligible score. If you are re-sitting the DAT, make sure that you will receive the official scores before the university application deadline. With the Canadian Dental Association, you can write the DAT twice per year. The American Dental Association allows students to write it more frequently, so we often have students take the test in the United States.

2. Apply to another dentistry program
Consider applying to a dental program that doesn’t require the DAT. For dentistry, this means you can apply to the following undergraduate programs:

• Charles Sturt University Bachelor of Dental Science
• Griffith University Bachelor of Dental Health Science & Master of Dentistry
• James Cook University Bachelor of Dental Surgery
• La Trobe University Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours)
• University of Queensland Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours)

If you have specific questions about these degrees, please email [email protected] and we will be happy to assist.

If you haven’t written the DAT, or your DAT is too low or no longer valid, but you have a completed degree, you may be eligible to apply to University of Otago. Please note, Otago has strict prerequisites, so we encourage you to check with OzTREKK to determine if you’re eligible.