Close
26,038 dental practitioners
0.6% identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander
54.3% female; 45.7% male
725 notifications lodged with Ahpra about
592 dental practitioners
17 immediate actions taken
22 mandatory notification received
193 practitioners monitored for health, performance and/or conduct during the year
149 cases being monitored at 30 June:
24 criminal offence complaints made
24 closed
3 matters decided by a tribunal
1 matter decided by a panel
2 appeals lodged
The Dental Board of Australia achieves its role of protecting the public by setting standards to enter and remain in the dental profession, and by supporting practitioners to practise professionally. We focused on achieving these goals by working collaboratively and consultatively with the profession, our stakeholders and the public.
The Board held its fifth biennial national conference, hearing from several presenters on the theme of Trust and confidence through better understanding. Engagement with stakeholders continued through regular meetings of the Dental Stakeholder Liaison Group. The Board’s reviews and evaluations were highly consultative, incorporating the feedback of practitioners, stakeholders and the public. In May, the Board held its first face-to-face meeting since February 2020.
Our response to the COVID-19 pandemic and support for practitioners to comply with their regulatory obligations in a rapidly changing environment continued. This included publishing information to help practitioners understand the impact of COVID-19 on continuing professional development requirements for maintaining an endorsement to practise conscious sedation.
This year marks the second year of operation of the Dental Practitioner Support Service, the first 24/7, free, confidential, nationwide telephone and online service for all dental practitioners and students.
The Board continued to work closely with its accreditation authority, the Australian Dental Council (ADC), to oversee accredited programs of study that, when approved by the Board, lead to registration as a dental practitioner. The Board contributed to the ADC’s review of the Professional competencies of the newly qualified dental practitioner, which will come into effect for the ADC’s accreditation processes in 2023.
The Board evaluated the implementation of its revised Scope of practice registration standard and Guidelines for scope of practice. The evaluation, which considered the views of stakeholders and practitioners, found no adverse impacts on patient safety or the quality of care provided by practitioners following the introduction of the revised standard.
Following consultation with other regulators, industry groups and professional associations, the Board released an updated fact sheet on teeth whitening.
The Board released the cross-profession Supervised practice framework.
The Board completed its review of the Guidelines on infection control, following public consultation. The outcome of the review was to replace the guidelines with supporting resources for practitioners, which were refined through dental practitioner user testing.
The Board’s review of its Specialist registration standard is in its early stages.
The Board released a revised Code of conduct in partnership with several other Boards.
The Board welcomed two new members, Mrs Julia Christensen (community member) and Dr Simon Shanahan (practitioner member). We thank outgoing members Winthrop Professor Paul Abbott (practitioner member) and Ms Alison Faigniez (community member) for their commitment and contribution to the work of the Board.
Dr Murray Thomas