How to Become a Dentist in Australia

How to become a dentist in Australia is a study-and-registration sequence. You complete a dental degree the Dental Board of Australia has approved, then you register with the Board before you treat patients. Becoming a dentist, in the sense of general registration, ends at that same point whether you start from secondary school or after an earlier degree.

This page is the pathway guide. It covers the two ways into a first dental degree, how long each one takes, dentistry prerequisites, how to read a published ATAR, and the starting point for a mature-age applicant or an international student. Degree titles and campuses are a separate comparison on Doctor of Dental Surgery. Which courses require UCAT ^® is part of the school-leaver pathway below.

How to become a dentist

You become a dentist by finishing an approved dental program and gaining general registration. The Australian Dental Council accredits dental programs. Graduates of programs the Council has accredited, and the Dental Board has approved, can apply for registration. Approved dentist programs currently use titles such as Bachelor of Dental Science, Bachelor of Dental Surgery, Doctor of Dental Surgery, Doctor of Dental Medicine, and a bachelor followed by a master. The Board's approved-programs list is the register that decides whether that title leads to registration.

Dentists assess, diagnose, treat and help prevent disease of the teeth, gums and mouth, as the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing describes. Dental hygienists, dental therapists, oral health therapists and dental prosthetists are separate registered divisions, with their own qualifications. An oral health or dental prosthetics degree leads to registration in that division. It is a different profession from general registration as a dentist.

The practical order is:

1. Choose the school-leaver route or the route that starts after a bachelor's degree, then meet that course's prerequisites and selection rules.
2. Complete the approved program, including its clinical placements. Your education provider arranges student registration. You do not apply for it yourself, and there is no student-registration fee. The Dental Board of Australia sets out student registration and the graduate application.
3. Apply for general registration as you near the end of the course. Graduate applications open from mid-September, and you can submit up to three months before you expect to finish. You set up an Ahpra portal, upload documents, complete a proof-of-identity check and pay the registration fee. Ahpra also waits for your criminal-history check and for your education provider to send your results.
4. Start work only once your name is on the public register. Registration is renewed each year. The University of Sydney tells new dentists that staying registered includes at least 60 hours of continuing professional development over a three-year cycle. The Dental Board of Australia registration standards sit behind that renewal, including English language, criminal history, professional indemnity insurance, recency of practice and continuing professional development.

Where the course uses UCAT ^® ANZ, plan that test in the year you apply. How to prepare for the UCAT ^® is the study-plan side of that year. The test result is one selection tool. It does not replace the degree or the registration step.

Pathways to dentistry

Pathways to dentistry split on when you enter the first dental qualification. One pathway starts from secondary school. The other starts after a prior university degree. Both are routes into general registration as a dentist. Course titles and campuses for those routes are compared on Doctor of Dental Surgery.

Graduate entry means you begin that first dental degree after an earlier bachelor's degree. Specialist registration is a later stage. The Department of Health, Disability and Ageing states that dentists complete further training if they specialise, and the University of Sydney describes its clinical dentistry postgraduate programs as study that starts after you already hold a Board-recognised qualification and have at least two years of general practice. That later training is separate from the choice between a school-leaver place and a place after a first degree.

Starting from secondary school

School-leaver entry takes you from Year 12 into the dental qualification. That qualification may be one bachelor's degree, such as the University of Queensland's Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) or James Cook University's Bachelor of Dental Surgery. It may be two awards in sequence. Griffith University states that students who complete the three-year Bachelor of Dental Health Science have automatic entry into the two-year Master of Dentistry, and that both degrees provide the education required to apply for registration as a dentist.

A degree with "doctor" in the title can still start from school. The UCAT ^® ANZ universities list includes the University of Western Australia's Doctor of Dental Medicine via the Bachelor of Biomedicine (Specialised). In that pattern you start the bachelor from school, and the dental degree comes later. The consortium also states that some pathways do not use UCAT ^® ANZ, and that results cannot be carried from one test year into the next. UCAT ^® dentistry requirements explain which dental and oral health courses sit on that list.

Selection is set by the course. UQ requires UCAT ^® ANZ, from the year you apply, for the Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours). James Cook states that it does not set an ATAR threshold for dentistry, and that offers use academic results and a written application. Published lengths for these routes are in the next section.

Starting after a bachelor's degree

The graduate route is for someone who already has, or is about to finish, a bachelor's degree. ACER lists four Australian dental graduate-entry programs that use the GAMSAT ^®: the University of Melbourne, the University of Queensland, the University of Sydney and the University of Western Australia. ACER describes the shared selection picture as a bachelor's degree, a GAMSAT ^® result and an interview, and each university sets its own weighting and extra rules. Applications go to the university: Melbourne processes dentistry itself, Sydney processes its dentistry applications, and the University of Western Australia processes dentistry. On that same page, GEMSAS is the process described for graduate-entry medicine at the schools that use it. Published lengths below cover the programs this page uses as examples. Western Australia publishes its own length and subject rules on the course page.

UCAT ^® and GAMSAT ^® side by side is the comparison of the two admissions tests. Use it to see which test belongs to which style of entry. Then use the course page for the weighting, the GPA hurdle and any extra test that university adds.

How long does it take to become a dentist

How long it takes to become a dentist depends on whether the dental qualification itself is your first degree. From Year 12, a direct or combined school-leaver qualification is commonly five years of full-time study. If you complete a bachelor's degree first, add that degree to a graduate dental program of about three and a half or four years.

These are published lengths for specific programs, not a national timetable:

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A three-year bachelor's degree plus a four-year graduate program is about seven years before graduation. The same first degree plus UQ's 3.5-year program is about six and a half years, when the first degree meets UQ's field and subject rules. For a graduate program that uses the GAMSAT ^®, you sit what the GAMSAT ^® is while finishing the earlier degree, or after it. ACER's test timeline is separate from the university application.

General registration is the step after the degree. The Board's graduate instructions treat it as an application near the end of the course, and you need to be registered before you start work. Later specialist training is a choice after that registration. It sits outside the time required to become a generally registered dentist.

Dentistry prerequisites

Dentistry prerequisites are course rules, not one national subject list. A school-leaver course usually asks for Year 12 English and at least one science, sometimes mathematics, and then a test or a written application. A graduate course usually asks for a bachelor's degree, a GPA hurdle, recent science subjects, and the GAMSAT ^®. Publishing a minimum does not mean everyone at that minimum receives a place. UQ says meeting its entry-score threshold does not guarantee admission. James Cook says the same of its published threshold on the Bachelor of Dental Surgery course page.

Dental programs also publish inherent requirements. James Cook asks applicants to read the inherent requirements for dentistry, which can include physical and cognitive abilities, sustainable performance and communication.

Year 12 subjects and the school-leaver test

For the Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours), UQ requires Queensland Year 12 General English (Units 3 and 4, grade C) or equivalent, Chemistry (Units 3 and 4, grade C), and a minimum ATAR of 99.0 or equivalent. Biology is recommended. You also sit UCAT ^® ANZ in the year you apply. Applicants through UQ's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Admissions Scheme are not required to sit UCAT ^®.

For the Bachelor of Dental Surgery, James Cook requires English, Mathematical Methods and Chemistry, each at Units 3 and 4 with a grade of C. Biology is recommended, not required. Any Queensland Year 12 English subject meets the English rule, and Specialist Mathematics meets the Mathematical Methods rule. What the UCAT ^® is explains the test UQ uses. James Cook's dentistry selection uses the written application and academic results rather than an ATAR threshold.

If you have finished Year 12 without those subjects, James Cook's Prep pathway can be used towards subject prerequisites. James Cook states that it cannot be used to meet an ATAR or a tertiary GPA, and that current Year 12 students cannot use it.

The earlier degree, GPA and GAMSAT ^®

Graduate prerequisites differ even among the GAMSAT ^® dental programs.

Melbourne's Doctor of Dental Surgery considers an undergraduate degree in any discipline, completed within 10 years of starting the dental degree. If that bachelor's degree is older, Melbourne asks for a graduate diploma, master or PhD completed inside the 10 years before 1 January of the intake year. You also need second-year anatomy, physiology and biochemistry, or equivalent, completed within 10 years of starting the course. Domestic applicants, and international applicants living in Australia when they apply, sit the GAMSAT ^®. The selection committee ranks prior academic performance and the admissions-test result. Meeting the requirements does not guarantee selection. Those rules are in the University of Melbourne Handbook.

UQ's Doctor of Dental Medicine asks for a bachelor's degree or equivalent in health, allied health, physical sciences or biological sciences, a GPA of 5.0 on a 7-point scale, and the GAMSAT ^® within four years before the year of commencement, with at least 50 in each section. The subject rule is specific: two units (one course) of musculoskeletal human anatomy, and two units (one course) of systems human physiology, completed within 10 years of commencement. If the bachelor's degree is more than 10 years old, UQ also asks for a postgraduate qualification, or four university courses on top of those subjects, inside that 10-year window. Applicants are ranked on an unweighted average GAMSAT ^® score (70 per cent) and a situational judgement test (30 per cent). UQ specifies the Casper situational judgement test, which can be sat once in a calendar year and counts for that admission year only.

Sydney's domestic admissions guide for 2027 entry asks for an eligible bachelor's degree of at least three years full-time, with at least two years at the awarding institution. That two-year rule is waived for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander applicants. Standard applicants need a UAC-calculated GPA of at least 5.0 on a 7-point scale, and rural applicants at least 4.5, plus at least 50 in each GAMSAT ^® section and the university's English requirement. The DMD domestic admissions guide limits acceptable GAMSAT ^® results to a two-year window and says the window can change. A bachelor's degree completed more than 10 years before 1 January of the enrolment year has to be supplemented by recent postgraduate study or sustained research productivity. Defined Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander facilitated-entry schemes are exempt from parts of these rules, including the GAMSAT ^® requirement for the Bachelor of Oral Health scheme and the postgraduate-degree scheme.

ACER advises anyone whose bachelor's degree or prerequisites are more than 10 years old to check eligibility with the school before registering for the GAMSAT ^®.

Lowest ATAR for dentistry in Australia

There is no single lowest ATAR for dentistry in Australia. Each course has its own selection threshold, and that threshold is the lowest rank which received an offer in a particular intake. QTAC states that the threshold is not set beforehand, that it can change between offer rounds, and that it reflects places, applicants and the strength of the pool. A selection rank can include adjustment factors. The raw ATAR and the adjusted rank are different numbers, and the number that matters is the one the course says it uses.

Semester 1, 2026 offer profiles for two Queensland dentist degrees show why a national "lowest ATAR" would mislead:

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UQ's figures are its Semester 1, 2026 range for recent secondary students, and QTAC publishes the same lowest ranks for the Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours). UQ also requires a minimum adjusted ATAR of 99.0. That matches the lowest offer once adjustments are included. The unadjusted 95.70 in that offer group reached 99.0 only with adjustments. QTAC states that UCAT ^® scores are then used for selection.

James Cook's course page is the source of its Semester 1, 2026 row, including the median of 97.05. James Cook does not set an ATAR threshold for dentistry, and Regional Preference, Educational Access and Subject Adjustment schemes are not available for dentistry applicants. The median describes that intake more fairly than the floor of 86.95.

Other states publish their own profiles through their admissions centres. Last year's floor moves when the pool or the number of places changes.

Once you hold a bachelor's degree and apply for a graduate dental program, the academic measure published for selection is the GPA, not the ATAR. Melbourne, UQ and Sydney each publish a GPA rule for that route, as set out in the prerequisites section above. Where a school-leaver course also ranks UCAT ^®, the cut-off pattern lives on UCAT ^® dentistry requirements, beside the ATAR hurdle rather than instead of the degree rules on this page.

Mature age dentistry in Australia

Mature age dentistry in Australia is decided by study history and how recent that study is. Universities publish non-school-leaver and graduate rules. They do not publish one national age cut-off on the pages cited here.

James Cook defines a school leaver, for its 2027 start, as someone who finished secondary school in 2025 or 2026 and has not completed one full-time-equivalent year or more of bachelor-level study. A non-school leaver finished secondary school more than two years ago, or has completed at least one full-time-equivalent year of bachelor-level study within the last 10 years. Non-school-leaver applicants must have tertiary study to be considered. James Cook gives the most weight to the most recent GPA, looks at the whole academic record supplied by QTAC, and gives consideration to health studies. The minimum unweighted GPA required before tertiary results are assessed is 5.75 on a 7-point scale. James Cook states that this is not a threshold or a benchmark, and that one full-time-equivalent year is generally eight subjects.

The school-leaver bachelor can also be open to someone who already has a degree. UQ describes its Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) as available to school leavers and to applicants who have completed another degree, and its account of that pathway includes a student who started the bachelor in their early 30s after an earlier degree and a PhD.

Graduate programs are the other mature-age door. Melbourne, Sydney and UQ each apply the 10-year recency rules set out in the prerequisites section. An older bachelor's degree has to be refreshed with more recent postgraduate study before those programs treat it as current.

A career change often means the first degree was in another field. Melbourne will consider any discipline and still requires second-year anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. UQ's Doctor of Dental Medicine is limited to named health and science fields and to specific anatomy and physiology courses. Where that route uses the GAMSAT ^®, GAMSAT ^® from a non-science background covers the exam's science reasoning. The university subject list still has to be met on its own.

How to become a dentist in Australia for international students

How to become a dentist in Australia for international students starts from one of two places. You can enrol in an Australian dental degree, under that university's international rules. Or, if you already qualified as a dentist in another country, you can ask the Dental Board whether that qualification is recognised and, if it is not, complete an Australian qualification or the Australian Dental Council assessment.

Studying for the degree in Australia

International applicants meet the academic rules of the course they choose, plus that university's English requirement. For Melbourne's Doctor of Dental Surgery, the University of Melbourne Handbook says an English test used for admission needs IELTS 7.0 overall, 7.0 in writing, and no band below 6.5, or an equivalent the university accepts.

The admissions test can differ for applicants who are outside Australia. Melbourne requires the GAMSAT ^® for international applicants living in Australia when they apply. Applicants living overseas may use the GAMSAT ^®, the United States DAT, the Canadian DAT, the UK GAMSAT ^® or the UK BMAT. What the GAMSAT ^® is explains the test most onshore graduate applicants will sit. Melbourne says standard applications for the following intake close at 11.59pm AEST on 31 May, on its Doctor of Dental Surgery how to apply page.

A student visa is not available for every dental program. UQ states that its Doctor of Dental Medicine does not meet the eligibility requirements for an Australian Student visa (subclass 500), and that someone who wants to study it in Australia needs a temporary visa or residency status that includes study rights. Read the visa line on the program page before you apply. International tuition is set by the university and is separate from a Commonwealth supported place.

Registration at the end of an Australian degree still uses the Board's English language skills standard. That standard has four pathways. Ahpra says the combined-education pathway and the test pathway suit most applicants. On the test pathway, the published IELTS Academic minimum is an overall score of 7, at least 7 in listening, reading and speaking, and at least 6.5 in writing, with rules for one sitting or two sittings. A university can ask for a higher score at admission, as Melbourne does for writing, and the Board's standard still applies when you register.

Already qualified as a dentist overseas

Dentists who are registered in New Zealand can apply for general registration in Australia under Trans-Tasman mutual recognition, including when their original training was in another country. The Dental Board of Australia sets out that path for overseas qualified practitioners.

For other overseas qualifications, the Board's instruction is to check whether the qualification is recognised. If it is not, the two options the Board publishes are an Australian qualification on Ahpra's approved list, or the Australian Dental Council assessment.

The Council's dentist assessment has three stages. Initial assessment checks eligibility and requires a minimum four-year full-time dental degree or diploma. The fee published on the Council's dentist page is AUD $647 for the application, and the outcome is valid for seven years. The written examination is a two-day test of applied clinical knowledge, costs AUD $2,122, and is valid for five years. The practical examination costs AUD $4,775. Passing the practical examination leads to an ADC certificate, which confirms you can apply to the Dental Board. The Board still assesses every registration standard, including English. The Council publishes the current fees and the sitting calendar, and those dates move. Use its dentist-assessment page for the intake you intend to sit.

Frequently asked questions

How long does it take to become a dentist in Australia?

A school-leaver dental qualification is commonly five years full time, either as one bachelor's degree or as a three-year bachelor followed by a two-year master. A graduate dental degree is four years at Melbourne and Sydney, or 3.5 years at the University of Queensland, after a prior bachelor's degree. You then register with the Dental Board before you practise. Specialist training, if you choose it later, is extra.

What prerequisites do I need for dentistry?

They depend on the course. UQ's school-leaver Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) asks for English, Chemistry, an adjusted ATAR of at least 99.0, and UCAT ^® ANZ, with Biology recommended. James Cook's Bachelor of Dental Surgery asks for English, Mathematical Methods and Chemistry, and uses a written application rather than an ATAR threshold. Graduate courses add a bachelor's degree, a GPA rule, and usually the GAMSAT ^®. Melbourne also requires second-year anatomy, physiology and biochemistry. UQ's Doctor of Dental Medicine requires specific anatomy and physiology courses and a situational judgement test.

What is the lowest ATAR for dentistry in Australia?

Australia does not publish one lowest ATAR for dentistry. For Semester 1, 2026, UQ's lowest offer for the Bachelor of Dental Science (Honours) was an adjusted rank of 99.00, and the lowest unadjusted ATAR in that group was 95.70. UQ also requires a minimum adjusted ATAR of 99.0 and uses UCAT ^® for selection. James Cook's lowest Semester 1, 2026 offer for the Bachelor of Dental Surgery was 86.95, with a median of 97.05, and James Cook does not set an ATAR threshold. Thresholds change with the next intake.

Can I apply for dentistry as a mature-age student?

Yes, if you meet the university's study rules. James Cook assesses non-school leavers on tertiary study within the last 10 years, and it will not assess a tertiary record below an unweighted GPA of 5.75 on a 7-point scale. Graduate dental degrees set a 10-year recency rule. An older bachelor's degree usually has to be followed by more recent postgraduate study, and science prerequisites can still apply even when the first degree was in another field.

Do I need the UCAT or the GAMSAT to become a dentist?

It follows the route. Some school-leaver dental courses require UCAT ^® ANZ in the year you apply, and that result cannot be saved for a later intake. ACER lists Melbourne, Queensland, Sydney and Western Australia as the dental graduate-entry programs that use the GAMSAT ^®, and each adds its own GPA, subject and test rules. UCAT ^® and GAMSAT ^® side by side compares the two exams. The course page is the source for which one that course uses.

Can an international student become a dentist in Australia?

An international student can apply for an Australian dental degree if they meet that course's academic and English rules and have a visa that allows the study. Melbourne asks onshore international Doctor of Dental Surgery applicants for the GAMSAT ^®, and it accepts other dental or graduate admissions tests from applicants living overseas. UQ's Doctor of Dental Medicine does not meet Student visa (subclass 500) eligibility. A dentist who already qualified overseas follows the Dental Board's recognition check or the Australian Dental Council assessment, and New Zealand registration has a separate mutual-recognition path.

Does a Doctor of Dental Surgery mean I am a specialist?

No. A Doctor of Dental Surgery or Doctor of Dental Medicine can be the first qualification that leads to general registration. At Melbourne it is a four-year degree after a bachelor's degree. Specialist registration comes later, after you are already a dentist, and it requires further training. The word "doctor" in the degree title describes the award, not a specialist registration.