Advanced Diploma in Dental Technology
Health Sciences and Social Services - Curative Health
Purpose and Rationale
Purpose:
The Advanced Diploma in Dental Technology aims to:
- Enhance and enrich knowledge and skills required in all disciplines of dental technology.
- Provide a basis for clinical dental technology and research.
- Enable learners to move up in the profession and contribute more to dentistry.
- Serve as an intermediary qualification for the Postgraduate Diploma in Dental Technology, allowing learners to supervise or own a dental laboratory.
- Produce knowledgeable and intellectually skilled learners who can handle advanced patient cases and utilize current technologies efficiently.
- Lay the foundation for postgraduate work in the field.
- Enable current individuals without required qualifications to become Dental Technologists.
- Expose learners to core competences for a deep understanding of Dental Technology.
Rationale:
The curriculum for this qualification aligns with the competencies outlined by the South African Dental Technicians Council (SADTC) to:
- Provide a systematic understanding of current practices and methodologies in Dental Technology.
- Incorporate advanced techniques like CAD, CAM, and Implantology.
- Equip learners to handle complex patient cases and cutting-edge technologies in the workplace.
- Establish a research foundation for higher studies in Dental Technology.
- Develop business skills for effective Dental Laboratory management.
- Act as a stepping stone towards the Postgraduate Diploma in Dental Technology to expand career opportunities.
- Offered to permanently employed Dental Technologists as per the Scope of Profession of Dental Technologists (Government Gazette, 2014).
Outcomes
- Demonstrate advanced detailed knowledge of designing, constructing and repairing dental prostheses and appliances, including an understanding of, and an ability to apply the key terms, concepts, facts, principles, rules and theories of Dental Technology to the work environment and relevance in Dentistry.
- Demonstrate an ability to efficiently and diligently evaluate, select and apply appropriate methods, procedures or techniques by using advanced knowledge of Dental Technology theory and practice, Dental Materials Sciences, Oral Physiology and Pathology within the Dental Technology environment.
- Demonstrate an advanced ability to critically identify, analyse, solve and critically reflect on complex patient problems, gathering evidence using Dental Technology theory and practice, Dental Materials Sciences, Oral Physiology and Pathology and communicating it to the oral Health team and accountably apply solutions based on evidence gathered by following procedures appropriate to the Dental Technology field.
- Demonstrate, understand and interpret the ethical and legislative implications and apply decisions and actions affecting the Dental Technology profession from a laboratory owner's and employer's perspective, by using knowledge obtained from different acts inferred in Jurisprudence.
- Analytically evaluate and Interpret different sources of information in Dental Technology theory and practice, Dental Materials Sciences, Oral Physiology and Pathology and ethically select information appropriate to the task, by applying or originating well-developed processes.
- Reliably and coherently present and communicate Appropriate academic and professional technologies using presentation and communication skills at dental technology conventions.
- Make decisions and act appropriately in familiar and new contexts, demonstrating an understanding of the relationships between systems, and of how actions, ideas or developments in one system impact on other systems by using knowledge gained in Jurisprudence, Business Practice and Research.
- Evaluate Dental Technician's performance as stipulated by South African Dental Technicians Council (SADTC) and accurately identify and address his or her task-specific learning needs by continuously attending appropriate training and workshops which provide for compulsory Continuous Professional Development Credits(CPD), and to provide support to the learning needs of the oral health team and others within the Dental Technology field.
Assessment Criteria
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1:
- Integrated and detailed knowledge of designing, constructing and repairing dental prostheses and appliances are applied according to the standards of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) to meet the needs and requirements of the patient.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2:
- Techniques, processes, systems technologies are applied and transferred in an original, creative and an innovative way appropriate to specialized and complex context within the dental technology field.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3:
- Specialist knowledge and theory are applied in critically reflexive, creative and novel ways to address complex practical and theoretical problems within the dental technology field. Competence in all applications is demonstrated.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4:
- Professional conduct, behavior and attitudes in all academic and laboratory settings are applied. Actions are executed independently while ensuring safety of self and others. Awareness of the consequences of his or her decisions and actions is demonstrated. Occupational Health and Safety procedures are optimally adhered to in the dental technology field.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5:
- Types of knowledge relevant to the field of Dental Technology are evaluated. Appropriate processes of gathering information are developed and applied. The sources of information are validated independently. Own ideas and opinions are developed and communicated in well-formed arguments.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 6:
- Appropriate visual and language skills are used in all oral and/or written communication. Complex problem solving is communicated reliably and coherently using appropriate academic and professional or occupational conventions, as well as recognized landscape design techniques and processes. Team communication and interpersonal skills are displayed in working and communication in a multidisciplinary team.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 7:
- Responsibility is taken for own work decisions taken and the use of resources. Tasks and specific needs are identified and addressed appropriately. Full responsibility is taken for own work, decision making and the use of resources.
Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 8:
- Own learning needs are identified, evaluated and addressed. Processes in unfamiliar and variable contexts are managed.
Integrated Assessment:
- Learner assessment is multifaceted, undertaken as a mixed form of formative assessment tasks and summative assessment following each academic semester or at the end of the module. Learning and assessment are integrated. Continual formative assessment is done to provide feedback on progress in achieving learning outcomes. Summative assessment judges learning in relation to Exit Level Outcomes. It tests integration of knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Examinations, projects, laboratory reports, or portfolios assess a selection of outcomes. Conceptual and contextual knowledge are assessed through tests and examinations. Formative assessment includes assignments and presentations. Knowledge, skills, and competencies are assessed through practical reports and tests for both Summative and Formative Assessment.
Qualification Details
- Type
- Advanced Diploma
- NQF Level
- 07
- Min. Credits
- 120
- SAQA Source
- More Information
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This page includes information from the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) . Builtneat Pty Ltd trading as Study Start, has modified all or some of this information. SAQA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications.