About the School

The School of Oral Health Sciences resides within the Charlotte Maxeke Johannesburg Academic Hospital and is a joint member of the Faculty of Health Sciences and the Gauteng Department of Health. Being one of few oral health training institutes in South Africa, the school prides itself in graduating world-class dental professionals every year.

The School admits a total of 47 students annually into its undergraduate programmes, accomodating 32 dental students for the Bachelor of Dental Science undergraduate degree and 15 students for the Bachelor of Oral Health Science programme.

Undergraduate teaching is carried out at the Wits Oral Health Centre which houses a Dental Graduate Auditorium, a multi-purpose skills laboratory, a prosthodontic laboratory, an in-house dental laboratory, a fully equipped radiology department 60 undergraduate dental chairs and 20 postgraduate consultation rooms. The Bachelor of Dental Science programme commences with Anatomy and Physiology in the first year among the Operative and Prosthodontic preclinical techniques courses. Students are introduced into the clinics in the third year of study when patient treatment is performed under close supervision. Learning takes place at student ratios of 1:5 to afford students the opportunity to gain maximum exposure to the supervisors who guide and assist them as they hone their skills to become skilled clinicians.