Careers › Health

How to become a Dentist

Treats teeth, gums and the mouth.

This needs more than the degree

The BChD is five years, and like medicine you can’t set up in practice straight after graduating – HPCSA registration and (for most routes) a period of community service come first.

Apply early

Selection programmes like this often close months before the standard application deadline, and marks alone don’t guarantee a place. See the Dates page for the exact closing dates.

What does a Dentist actually do?

More about this career

Treats teeth, gums and the mouth – most dentists run or work in private practice, though some work in public hospitals or academia. The degree (BChD) is five years, and like medicine, specialising (orthodontics, oral surgery) takes further postgraduate training.

Where this degree can take you

  • Orthodontist
  • Oral & Maxillofacial Surgeon
  • Periodontist
  • Paediatric Dentist

This is our general description of the role and related jobs, not from an official source – it’s here to give you a fuller picture, not as a careers-counselling guarantee.

Not from an official source

Subjects that usually help

  • Mathematics
  • Physical Sciences
  • Life Sciences

This is our general guidance about which school subjects suit this career. It is not an admission requirement and not from an official source – the real requirements are on the degrees below.

Not from an official source

Where to check this yourself

What the degrees we’ve captured actually ask for

  • Mathematics – asked for by 2 of 3 degrees
  • Physical Sciences – asked for by 2 of 3 degrees
  • Life Sciences – asked for by 1 of 3 degrees

Counted from the requirements below (an “or” alternative counts for each subject named). Each degree links to the page it came from.

Degrees that lead here

3 degrees at 3 universities. More are added as we verify them.

Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University

Selection programmePartly verified

BDS (Dentistry / Oral Health Sciences)

School of Oral Health Sciences

SMU APS 37

  • English, Life Sciences, Physical Science, Mathematics – Each needs a minimum of 6 points on SMU’s own APS conversion scale (A = 12 points down to F = 3 points).

About 42 places a year, selected by merit order on actual percentage marks. Closes 31 July 2026 for undergraduate programmes (applications open 1 April 2026) - notably earlier than most universities in this batch.

Source: View the official page (smu.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

University of Pretoria

Selection programme

BDS (Dentistry)

Health Sciences

UP APS 35 points

  • English: level 5 if it is your Home Language, level 5 if it is your First Additional Language
  • Mathematics: level 6 (70% or more)
  • Physical Sciences: level 5 (60% or more)

A selection programme. Most UP closing dates are 30 June; Veterinary Science closes 31 May. Grade 12 applicants apply with their final Grade 11 results.

Source: View the official page (drupalwebprod-files.up.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

University of the Witwatersrand

No cut-off publishedFrom an older document

Bachelor of Dental Science

Health Sciences · 5 years

No points cut-off published for this one – see the note below.

  • English: level 5 if it is your Home Language, level 5 if it is your First Additional Language
  • Mathematics: level 5 (60% or more)
  • Life Sciences: level 5 (60% or more)
  • Physical Sciences: level 5 (60% or more)
  • Job shadowing – Job shadowing is required.

Wits Health Sciences uses a Composite Index (75% school average across 5 subjects, 25% NBT), not APS, and does not publish the cut-off scores. This figure comes from the Wits schools-liaison Grade 12 guide, which is headed for 2026 entry. We have not yet found a 2027 course-finder page confirming it, so treat it as the most recent official figure rather than a confirmed 2027 one.

Source: View the official page (wits.ac.za) (opens the official page) · 2027 intake

Are your marks enough?

Put your subjects in once and we’ll check them against every degree above – scored each university’s own way.

What do I qualify for?