2022/23 annual summary

Dental practice in 2023/24

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2023/24 annual report Download the
Board's data tables

Registration

27,583 dental practitioners
- Up 3.3% from 2022/23
- 3.0% of all registered health practitioners
1,507 first-time registrants
- 942 domestic (including new graduates)
- 565 international
0.6% identified as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander

Gender

Female	Male
56.2%	43.8%

56.2% Female
43.8% Male

Age

<253.1%
25-3428.3%
35-4429.4%
45-5418.1%
55-6413.1%
65-746.7%
75+1.3%

Divisions

Dentist	74.6%
Oral health therapist	11.8%
Dental hygienist	7.2%
Dental prosthetist	4.7%
Dental therapist	4.0%

74.6% Dentist
11.8% Oral health therapist
7.2% Dental hygienist
4.7% Dental prosthetist
4.0% Dental therapist

98.1% Registered in one division
1.5% Registered in two divisions
0.4% Registered in three divisions

Regulation

723 notifications lodged with Ahpra about 597 dental practitioners
1,316 notifications about 1,058 dental practitioners made Australia-wide, including HPCA and OHO data
- 3.8% of the profession Australia-wide

Sources of notifications

88.7% Patient, relative or member of the public
4.8% Other practitioner
1.9% Employer
1.7% Board initiated
1.1% Police, government or co-regulator
1.8% Other

Most common types of complaints

54.9% Clinical care
9.5% Communication
5.1% Documentation
2.6% Behaviour
2.6% Offence against other law
25.2% Other

Notifications closed

704 notifications closed

8.2% Conditions imposed on registration or an undertaking accepted
1.6% Cautioned or reprimanded
1.6% Disqualified from applying for registration
34.5% Referred to another body or retained by a health complaints organisation
54.1% No further regulatory action (including where practitioner has taken steps to address)

21 immediate actions taken
29 mandatory notifications received
- 14 about impairment
- 9 about professional standards
- 3 about sexual misconduct
- 3 about alcohol or drugs
80 practitioners monitored for health, performance and/or conduct
26 criminal offence complaints made
15 notifications decided by a tribunal
No matters decided by a panel
1 appeal lodged

The Dental Board of Australia achieves its role of protecting the public by setting standards for entering and maintaining registration 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.

Highlights this year

Throughout the year, the Board met with stakeholders in Brisbane and Adelaide, and engaged with co-regulators, dental directors, education providers, professional associations and the Board’s Dental Stakeholder Liaison Group.

The Board trialled a new committee for matters that have been identified as not needing a regulatory response. The Low-Risk Early Determination Committee pilot aims to reduce practitioner and notifier distress by improving the efficiency and timeliness of the notification process. Early indications from the pilot are that matters are being finalised more quickly, which should improve the practitioner and notifier experience.

The Board increased community representation on its decision-making committees, approving revised terms of reference in line with Ahpra’s Blueprint to improve public safety in health regulation. These changes came into effect from 1 July 2024.

Biennial conference

The Board held its two-yearly conference on 8 September under the theme ‘Safety, capacity, capability – What’s next in dental practitioner regulation?’

The keynote was delivered by Associate Professor Carmen Parter, who invited participants to take a deep look beyond cultural safety to tackle institutional and systemic racism.

Dental practitioner support

The Board continued to fund the Dental Practitioner Support Service, a free, 24/7, confidential nationwide telephone and online service for all dental practitioners and students. Following a review of the service, the current provider has been contracted to deliver the service for another two years.

Accreditation

The Board again worked 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 agreed to reappoint the ADC as the accreditation authority for the dental profession for the next five years.

Registration standards, guidelines and codes

The Board made progress on its review of its Specialist registration standard, with a revised standard released for preliminary consultation in May. Work continues on a review of the Board’s registration standards for conscious sedation and general registration for overseas-qualified dental practitioners.

The Board participated in the multiprofession reviews of the following standards:

continuing professional development
recency of practice
English language skills
criminal history
limited registration standards.

The Board is also part of the multiprofession development of guidelines for registered health practitioners who perform and advertise non-surgical cosmetic procedures.

Dr Murray Thomas, Chair

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2023/24 annual report See the complete set of
data tables Download the
report appendices

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