alternative to dentistry
Hey,
Bachelor of Oral Health is worthwhile considering if you are seriously interested in dentistry. It trains you to become a dental hygienist + dental therapist. It definitely give you an edge when doing your BDS or Bdent degree.
University of Sydney probably offers the most comprehensive Ba oral health atm due to its hygiene + therapy component unlike University of Newcastle etc which only offer the Hygiene component. The degree is 3 years no matter which university you goto.
You can see it as a Med Science to medicine sorta thing, but much better as you are working in hospitals 1st year and will see hundreds and hundreds of patients before you graduate doing fillings, scales, crowns etc. So give it a thought.
For 2006 the applications probably has already closed for most universities due to the PQA/UMAT, Interview and other tests which must be undertaken.