Honours Bachelor of Science (Dental Hygiene) Program (Degree Completion) (S305)

2022-20232023-2024
  • Program Name:
    Honours Bachelor of Science (Dental Hygiene)
  • Code: S305
  • Credential:
    Honours Bachelor's Degree
  • Method of Study:
    Full-time
  • Duration:
    3 Semesters
  • Centre:
  • School: Dental Health
  • Location: Online
  • Starting Months: May
  • Domestic Tuition:
    $7,500.00 *
  • Spring 2023 Delivery:
    Semester 1: Online

Compare up to 3 programs

Overview

Leadership Claims

George Brown College is proud to be the first Ontario college to offer a dental hygiene degree completion program designed specifically for graduates of a community college Dental Hygiene three-year Advanced Diploma or two-year Diploma program.

Program Overview

George Brown College's Honours Bachelor of Science (Dental Hygiene) (S305) is the first fully online one-year degree completion program in dental hygiene offered by an Ontario college. Apply to this program if you are a dental hygienist interested in expanding your career and educational pathway opportunities. To qualify, applicants must be a graduate of an Ontario Dental Hygiene Advanced Diploma (three-year) or an Ontario Dental Hygiene Diploma (two-year) program from an accredited publicly funded program, e.g., George Brown or other community colleges, with a minimum GPA of 3.0. 

Full Description

George Brown College’s Honours Bachelor of Science (Dental Hygiene) is the first Ontario college degree completion program designed specifically for graduates of a community college dental hygiene program. 

Apply to this program if you are a graduate of an Ontario College Advanced Diploma (three-year) or an Ontario College Diploma (two-year) program in Dental Hygiene from an accredited publicly funded program with a minimum GPA of 3.0 and are interested in broadening your career opportunities beyond traditional clinical practice.

While the primary focus of a Dental Hygiene three-year Advanced Diploma and two-year Diploma program is on clinical practice, this fully online degree completion program will help you develop advanced competencies in oral health advocacy, health promotion and critical decision-making. 

About the Bachelor of Science (Dental Hygiene) program

  • one-year (three-semester) program
  • starts in May
  • course curriculum delivered fully online with both synchronous (live) and asynchronous (self-paced) learning

Main areas of in-depth study:

  • complex oral health-care needs
  • health promotion
  • oral health-related policy and advocacy
  • research
  • evidence-based decision-making
  • disease processes
  • emerging trends in oral health care

Having developed your skills in these subject areas, you will be prepared to work effectively within a collaborative health-care team that includes working with individual clients, other health-care providers and the broader community on complex health-care issues. 

Capstone project 

This program has been designed to help you build your confidence as your knowledge of complex oral health-care needs develops. You will develop foundational learning in the first semester to support more complex decision-making and critical thinking required in the second and third semesters. The third semester will include a self-directed capstone project where you will select and study an area of personal interest.

Areas of interest may include:

  • community health programming
  • educational course/program development
  • assessing oral health needs

PLEASE NOTE: This program is not designed to advance clinical skills and has no clinical component. For students interested in expanding their clinical scope of practice, please visit our Restorative Dental Hygiene postgraduate program page for details. 

 

Program Learning Outcomes

A graduate of the Honours Bachelor of Science in Dental Hygiene should be able to: 

  1. Investigate the impact of the tensions between evidence, best practices, protocols, and various stakeholder perspectives on decision-making at the individual and community level.
  2. Incorporate knowledge and respect for the unique features of culture and population diversity on oral health outcomes.
  3. Develop sustainable and community-driven strategies to advocate for systems level change in advancing oral health equity.
  4. Design educational and training interventions for various practice settings using learner-centered curriculum design and delivery models.
  5. Integrate systems level thinking into community-based oral health promotion programs and program evaluations
  6. Construct pathways for cross referral and interdisciplinary collaborations to address common risk factors and broader determinants of health.
  7. Integrate the natural sciences of oral disease with the behavioural and social sciences to support the management of complex care and disease prevention.
  8. Engage in the stewardship of the dental hygiene profession to facilitate sustainable change within the organizational, government, and political context.
  9. Develop communication strategies to participate in professional discourse and disseminate key concepts and scholarly works to audiences inside and outside the profession.
  10. Manage therapeutic and ongoing supportive services for clients including those with medically complex needs through the life stages*
  11. Construct self-directed personal development and professional practice improvement plans to address identified gaps

Courses

Required Courses

Semester 1

Course Code Course Title
DENT 3046Introduction to Statistics
COMM 3010Critical Thinking and Scholarly Writing for Health Sciences
LHUM 1203The Pleasure of Inquiry:Philosophy
 Liberal Studies Elective

Semester 2

Course Code Course Title
DENT 3047Health Promotion 1: Advanced Principles of Health Promotion
DENT 3048Pedagogical and Instructional Design in Dental Hygiene 
DENT 3049Critical Research Practices in Oral Health
DENT 3050Advanced Practice in Clinical Oral Health Science
 Liberal Studies Elective

Semester 3

Course Code Course Title
DENT 3051Oral Health Policy: Past, Present and Future
DENT 3052Health Promotion 2: Application to Community Practice
DENT 3053Leadership in the Dental Hygiene Profession
DENT 3054Capstone: Exploring Issues in the Science and Practice of Dental Hygiene

 

Career & Postgraduate Study Opportunities

Career Options

Career pathways may include positions in:

  • oral public health care
  • policy development
  • health-care advocacy
  • education 
  • sales industry

Industry

The oral health industry in Canada is expanding to improve access to care. Dental hygienists have been identified as playing a critical role in this process. Graduates of this program will be positioned to take on new roles in oral health care as they emerge.

Educational Pathways

As a graduate of the Honours Bachelor of Science (Dental Hygiene) program, you can consider pursuing a master's degree in the following areas of study: 

  • health sciences
  • applied health sciences
  • applied health services research
  • public health
  • health promotion
  • health professions education
  • community health
  • transitional research in health sciences
  • rehabilitation services and humanities

PLEASE NOTE: While you will be eligible to apply to various master's programs, you will be responsible for meeting the specified admission requirements for each program. Admission cannot be guaranteed. 

Tuition and Fees

Domestic Tuition

$7,500.00 *

Additional Costs

* Amounts listed are the total of tuition, materials, student service and ancillary fees for the first two semesters of programs. Fees are subject to change for programs starting in Fall 2023 and at later dates.

Financial Assistance

This program is approved for OSAP funding, provided the applicant meets OSAP eligibility criteria.

Disclaimer: The information contained in this website is subject to change without notice. It should not be viewed as a representation, offer or warranty. Students are responsible for verifying George Brown College fee requirements.

How to Qualify and Apply

Admission Requirements

Only graduates of an Ontario College Advanced Diploma (three-year) or an Ontario College Diploma (two-year) program in Dental Hygiene from an accredited publicly funded program, e.g. George Brown or other community colleges, will be considered. 

  1. Three-year Ontario College Advanced Diploma in Dental Hygiene from an accredited publicly funded program with a 3.0 GPA or higher 
  2. OR Two-year Ontario College Diploma in Dental Hygiene from an accredited publicly funded program with a 3.0 GPA or higher and a minimum of eight years clinical experience in the field of dental hygiene (resume required), and the successful completion of a Research Methods course at the post-secondary level from a recognized publicly funded institution


George Brown has been granted a consent by the Ministry of Colleges and Universities to offer this applied degree for a seven-year term starting August 9, 2022. The college shall ensure that all students admitted to the above-named program during the period of consent will have the opportunity to complete the program within a reasonable time frame. 

How to Apply

Domestic students should apply through Ontario Colleges.

Contact Us

For more information, please contact the School of Dental Health Program Support Officer Qian Yang: qyang@georgebrown.ca

For more information about George Brown College, you may also call the Contact Centre at 416-415-2000 (TTY 1-877-515-5559) or long distance at 1-800-265-2002.

Sign up and learn more about your options, our programs, and life at George Brown.