What Is Oral Health Therapist?

You’re probably wondering right now if why DentalCareXtra has Oral Therapist and what’s the difference between them and the Dentists. 

Oral Health Therapist is a dental professional working to ensure patients are getting the best possible treatment and advice about oral health care and specially trained to help give KIDS the best start to Oral Health for the rest of their lives

What is an Oral Health Therapist?

An oral health therapist is a 3-year degree-qualified clinician who has completed studies in dental hygiene and dental therapy. This means they can provide diagnosis, treatment advice, and preventive programs for the oral health of children and adults.

Oral health therapists work as a member of a dental team. They will be able to assess your oral health and find why issues are occurring, determine the correct treatment for you, and provide advice on ensuring your mouth stays healthy. They have a strong preventive focus and are actively involved in health promotion and fostering positive attitudes towards oral health.

What Does an Oral Health Therapist Do?

The work an oral health therapist undertakes can be very similar to a dentist’s; however, it centres mostly on motivating people to take better care of their oral health. Oral health therapists can provide the following dental therapy services to children and adolescents:

• Provide routine clinical dental treatment for children, adolescents and adults including
• dental examinations and diagnosis, cleaning, scaling and polishing teeth, filling cavities and
• extracting teeth under local anaesthetic
• Treat gum conditions for all ages including adults, take X-rays of teeth and jaws, apply sealants and remineralising therapies and take impressions
• Educate and motivate people to maintain good oral health
• Promote oral health for the community by providing education and information on oral health, work with other health services and groups such as parents' groups, playgroups and parents and citizens' associations to improve oral health.
• Bring more complex dental problems to the attention of dentists, specialists or other healthcare providers
• Advise managers of school canteens about healthy food, work to improve oral health with childcare and elderly residential care settings and other settings that support health, especially those that work with people who do not have good access to dental care.
• Liaise with other health care providers to support oral health as part of general health.

What Qualification Does an Oral Health Therapist Have?

An Oral Health Therapist has three years of full-time study into a Bachelor Degree in an approved area by the National Board. Courses or area that provide training in dental therapy, dental hygiene and health promotion.

Our Oral Health Therapist Team

Care and Quality really matter to us here at DentalCareXtra. That’s we always want to give you "Xtra" or the best care to all our patients and community around Mackay, Moranbah and Marian. For now, we have three Oral Health Therapist.\

Zoe

Hannah

Amy

Still have questions?

If you’re still confused about whether seeing an Oral Health Therapist is a good option for you and your family, Contact Us today for more information or advice.

Our friendly team here are DentalCareXtra is trained to explain the difference between a dentist and an Oral Health Therapist and will help guide you in the right direction based on your specific oral hygiene needs.

References and acknowledgements

http://www.dhhs.tas.gov.au/career/home/career_choices/becoming_an_oral_health_therapist (2021)

https://www.health.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0021/440931/oral-health-therapist.pdf (2021)