Specialist Registration
Please refer to the following documents for more information about specialist registration.
Overview
The Ministerial Council has approved the Dental Board of Australia List of Specialties and specialist titles. Dentists who have the necessary qualifications in the approved specialties and meet the other requirements for registration will be included on the Specialist Register and their specialist title will be protected by law.
Specialist Registration Requirements
A dentist applying for specialist registration must comply with the requirements of the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law Act as in force in each state and territory (the National Law). Applicants must also meet the other requirements of the Dental Board of Australia's (the Board’s) relevant Registration Standards.
A dentist may be granted specialist registration if he or she:
- holds an approved qualification for the specialty (see Dental Approved Programs of Study for a list of approved programs of study which lead to qualifications for registration); or
- holds another qualification which the Board considers to be substantially equivalent (or based on similar competencies) to an approved qualification for the specialty (see Section 58(b) of the National Law).
In addition, the Board’s Specialist Registration Standard (the Standard) requires that all dentists applying for specialist registration have:
- completed a minimum of two years general dental practice (this requirement may be achieved by experience outside Australia, subject to assessment and approval by the Board); and
- meet all other requirements for general registration as a dentist.
Assessment of ‘substantially equivalent’ qualifications (section 58(b) of the National Law)
The Board has an agreement with its accreditation authority, the Australian Dental Council (ADC), for the ADC to review and make recommendations to the Board about applications for specialist registration from overseas trained specialists, where there is a Board approved qualification for the specialty.
Where there is no Board approved qualification for the specialty, the application is referred to a committee of the Board which has the requisite expertise and experience in assessing overseas specialist qualifications. The specialties that currently do not have an accredited and approved program of study are forensic odontology, oral surgery and public health dentistry (community dentistry.
Applying for Specialist Registration
To apply for specialist registration, eligible practitioners can complete the Specialist Registration Application Form for Dentists with General Registration and submit it to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency.
Specialists Register
AHPRA publishes an online Register of Dental Practitioners that provides the profession and the public with up to date information about a practitioner’s registration status. The Register of Dental Practitioners provide details where a dentist is recognised on the Specialists Register and includes details of the dentist’s dental specialty or specialties.
Transitional pathway for Specialist Registration as a Forensic Odontologist
During the transition to the National Law, some dentists were able to be included on the specialist register as a ‘one-off‘ transitional arrangement.
The Board agreed to allow a 12 month transitional pathway (ending 30 September 2011) for dentists to register as forensic odontology specialists if their qualifications were equivalent to those held by New South Wales and Tasmanian dentists who were recognised in that specialty prior to the introduction of the national registration and accreditation scheme.
Registered dentists with qualifications in the specialty of forensic odontology, who met the requirements of the Board's Specialist Registration Standard and who could demonstrate recency of practice in forensic odontology were eligible to apply for specialist registration. As this was a transitional arrangement until 30 September 2011, eligibility to be recognised as a forensic odontologist has now ended.