Study Guide

Descriptions

PROGRAMME
Degree Programme in Dental Technology

DEGREE
Dental technician (UAS)

EXTENT (ECTS CREDITS, YEARS)
The extent of the Degree Programme is 210 ECTS credits and its duration is 3.5 years.

OBJECTIVE OF STUDIES
The work carried out by dental technicians with a degree from a university of applied sciences mainly consists of designing and making different dental prostheses and orthodontic devices in cooperation with other dental care personnel.

After completing the Degree Programme in Dental Technology, you can work as a dental technology expert in an oral health care team. You are responsible for the technical execution of individually customized prostheses. Your skill requirements include manual skills, systematic planning, creative problem-solving ability and interaction skills.

Graduated dental technicians mainly work in private dental laboratories. In addition, they may work in sales or consulting roles in dental technology companies or as experts in dental research units and companies that manufacture materials used in dental technology. Cooperation with other health care professionals and health promoters is a part of the job.

Only a licensed professional, who has completed a degree in dental technology, may work as a dental technician. After graduation, students submit an application for the right to practice as a licensed health care professional to the National Supervisory Authority for Welfare and Health (Valvira). A Bachelor’s degree opens the door to further education in the form of a Master’s degree or a university degree. After working as a dental technician for five years, you can also train to be a clinical dental technician, in which case your job will cover certain clinical prosthodontic jobs. EHTL (Union of Denturists in Finland) is responsible for organizing clinical dental technician training. Training is organized when necessary.

STRUCTURE AND CONTENT OF STUDIES
The total extent of the Degree Programme in Dental Technology is 210 ECTS. This means approximately 3.5 years of full-time study. The studies comprise core competence and complementary competence that include core studies common to the entire university of applied sciences, professional studies, practical training, the Bachelor’s thesis with the related maturity test as well as optional studies. Some of the studies are carried out in English. There are no specialization programmes or areas in the Degree Programme in Dental Technology.

Growing into a dental technician is a continuum of learning that continues throughout the Degree Programme, with the language and communication studies required by the Bachelor’s degree forming an integral part of the continuum.

Professional studies focus on the key tasks in the dental technician profession in order to ensure that, after completing their studies, graduates are capable of working independently in a dental laboratory in different tasks of the profession and, later on, of acting as an entrepreneur, for instance.

In the Bachelor’s thesis, students demonstrate their capacity for independent work and their ability to use research-based information with a critical perspective. Bachelor’s theses are written as part of working life-oriented research and development projects and programmes.
The studies also include practical training both in simulations in the dental laboratory classrooms of the TUAS campus and in private dental laboratories. Some of the studies and practical training can also be completed in the higher education institutions of the international collaboration network.

Objective

The innovation competences specified by Turku University of Applied Sciences for individual, community and network levels, including their applications, are a central component of dental technician studies.

Competence at the individual level can be seen in the dental technician student’s creative problem-solving ability, holistic attitude and determination during the studies. Competence at the community level refers to the ability to act in different professional groups and take their members’ views into account. Competence at the network level refers to the ability to network and cooperate constructively with the representatives of different professional fields, also internationally.

A dental technician’s professional competence consists of core competence and complementary competence, for which coaching is provided during the studies.

Core competence in oral health promotion and occlusal rehabilitation with different dental prosthetic solutions refers to students mastering the working on and development of different dental technology biomaterials and working techniques. In addition, students know how to take both functional and aesthetic aspects into account in their work.

In the area of health care technology competence, students know how to deploy, utilize and apply the latest devices and manufacturing techniques of their professional field when making different prostheses.

Complementary competence studies allow students to deepen their competence in key topics, techniques and materials in their professional field through a development and research oriented Bachelor’s thesis.

In optional studies, students complement their competence by working in the social welfare and health care sector and by taking courses offered by different higher education institutions.

In addition the student is able to work in accordance with the principles of sustainable development, taking into account the ecological, economic, social and cultural sustainability, as well as the capital produced by them. With this capital, we leave future generations with as many, if not more, opportunities as we have had.

Development

Learning methods

The dental technician studies are based on the innovation pedagogy defined in the strategy of Turku University of Applied Sciences. This includes innovative teaching methods, various social learning environments, optional ways of taking courses, flexible curricula, international activity and an entrepreneurship-oriented approach. Innovation manifests itself as, for instance, participation in working life-oriented projects in one’s own professional field as well as in working life development projects.

Studying in the Degree Programme in Dental Technology takes place on the campus, in social welfare and health care units, different social welfare and health care organizations, organizations involved in working life and virtual environments.

Multiprofessional cooperation in the field of training and education is carried out with the region’s health service organizations and providers of dental hygienist and dentist training and education. The studies consist of lecture, online and simulation teaching, independent study and practical training.

In 2015, the higher education institutions in Turku signed a partnership agreement with the aim of increasing mutual cooperation in teaching, research, development and innovation activities. Training and education of different oral health care professional groups is concentrated in the Kupittaa area and forms a national hub of education.

The operations of Turku University of Applied Sciences are based on its quality management model and process descriptions. The students have the right and the duty to contribute to the development of the higher education institution through various channels. They can exert influence by participating in education development events and working groups.

Further information

The assessment of students is based on the competence requirements specified for the degree programme. The assessment is based on competence and its improvement and the elements being assessed include the learning process and the output of the student or a group of students. Versatile interactive methods are used for the assessment, including self- and peer assessment, assessment by the teacher/instructor and feedback discussions. Continuous assessment supports students’ development and own goal-setting as well as the identification of one’s strengths and areas that need improvement.

The assessment criteria are specific to each course. The criteria are prepared for grades satisfactory (1–2), good (3–4) and excellent (5). The bases for assessment are described in the implementation plans. The teacher(s) of the course is in charge of the course’s assessment. The assessment is supported by a preliminary assessment framework that is applied on a course-specific basis. The framework takes into account the phase of your studies (beginner, advanced, expert) and field-specific and general competence goals.