He played his whole career with North Melbourne Football Club during one of its most successful periods.
Dench won the North Melbourne club's best and fairest award, the Syd Barker Medal, on four occasions - 1971, 1976, 1977, 1981.
In the 1977 VFL Grand Final, Ron Barassi moved him to the forward line, where he sparked North Melbourne Football Club's revival by contributing to the forward line and kicking goals, to draw with Collingwood Football Club.
A graphic and comical photograph of Dench smothering of a kick by South Melbourne's John Roberts was made in 1981 by Michael Rayner of The Age which won the Nikon Awards Best Sports Photograph of the Year.
In 2008, Dench served 4 months in jail for his minor role in a scheme to defraud Victoria University out of millions of dollars.