Program Overview

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Please note that for 2023 entry, the deadline to apply for this course is 12:00pm on Wednesday 05th July 2023. Do you have the enhanced skills in advanced care that are needed in the new dental contract? Dental practices who do are likely to be commissioned to provide specialised services under the proposed new dental contract. Periodontology is just one of those specialised services you could be commissioned to do. If you are a registered dental hygienist or dental hygienist/therapist, our MSc Advanced Periodontal Practice course provides an educational route for you to acquire advanced skills and knowledge in periodontology:

• Gain experience in our purpose-built dental skills labs and clinical patient care facilities
• Make your studies fit around your busy working life through our flexible study options
• Expand your knowledge and interests in a broad range of dental disciplines
• Learn from experienced clinicians who provide expert oral health care in clinical settings
• Reinforce and enhance the skills which are required for everyday clinical practice

You gain a broad and critical understanding of the key concepts underlying clinical periodontal practice. At Essex, you critically appraise research findings and develop your own evidence-based practice. The School of Health and Social Care is proud to work closely with our Service User Reference Group (SURG). SURG is made up of service users, carers, and volunteers who generously share their first-hand experiences of health and social care. We work collaboratively with SURG to design our courses to ensure that we truly are putting the needs of patients and clients at the heart of what we do. SURG are involved as part of our course application processes and often form part of our interview panels. This helps us to be confident that we are selecting the right applicants for the course and their future careers. SURG members also support the delivery of our teaching sessions and research activity, which means you’ll benefit from an insight into their lived experiences of living with a diagnosis, health condition, or circumstance. You’ll find that not only does your clinical knowledge expand, but your empathy, compassion and ability to advocate develops also. You can find out more about SURG by reading their blog here . If you are a dentist we also offer our MSc Periodontology , which provides an educational route, by credit accumulation, to acquire the abilities and knowledge of a dentist with enhanced skills. Why we're great.

• Reinforce and enhance your skills required for everyday clinical practice, by learning from experienced clinicians
• Acquire a broad and critical understanding of the key concepts underlying clinical periodontal practice
• Gain advanced skills and knowledge in our purpose-built facilities for developing dental skills and patient care

Specialist facilities

The School of Health and Social Care is located at two sites; in the Kimmy Eldridge building at our Colchester Campus and in the Gateway Building at our Southend Campus. The Oral Health Science facilities are centred in the Gateway Building, and MSc Periodontology is taught not only at our Southend Campus but also in our purpose built academic dental clinic. We offer clinical laboratories with the very latest equipment and IT facilities - in particular, a state-of-the-art dental skills lab with the latest simulation ‘phantom heads’ to practise on.

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Your future

Our MSc Advanced Periodontal Practice offers you many opportunities to further your career:

• Academic and clinical teaching practice
• Academic development
• Development of the profession
• Enhanced clinical skills
• Enhanced professional practice
• Hospital practice
• Local professional networks, local dental committees, and British Dental Association groups
• Medico-legal (expert witnesses)
• Mentoring

The MSc Advanced Periodontal Practice degree has propelled my career and enabled me to develop on my clinical skill set with a greater level of knowledge on the management of periodontal disease, in relation to appropriate assessment, diagnosis and treatment planning of complex cases; and an appreciation of the importance that research has and the impact of evidence- based practice in obtaining successful of treatment outcomes. The MSc Advanced Periodontal Practice degree has also brought about an increased number of employment opportunities and placed me in an incredible niche position in both the corporate and independent dental care setting. Manjit Sandhu, MSc Advanced Periodontal Practice