Registration

Overview

Dental practitioners must be registered with the Dental Board of Australia (the Board) and meet its registration standards in order to practise in Australia.

Obligations of a registered dental practitioner

Under the National Law, dental practitioners have obligations they must meet in order to be registered and while practising. This infographic shows the obligations of a registered dental practitioner.

Frequently asked questions about the National Registration and Accreditation Scheme are available on the Ahpra website.

Obligations of a registered dental practitioner – Word version (80.1KB,DOCX)

Public registers

The Board keeps up-to-date public registers:

of all registered dental practitioners with general, limited and non-practising registration
of all dentists who are recognised as specialists

There is a range of different types of registration to match different levels of training and experience. Most dental practitioners have general registration.

National registration came into effect on 1 July 2010. Dental practitioners registered by the Board can practise in any state or territory in Australia.

Comprehensive information about the registration process is available on the Ahpra website, including how to apply and upload your form online. Application forms for registration are available for download on the Forms page on the Board’s website.

Types of dental practitioner registration

Under the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, as in force in each state and territory, there is a range of registration categories under which a dental practitioner can practise in Australia. Different categories apply to different types of registration. Categories of dental practitioner registration are:

General registration

Divisions include:

Specialist registration

Dentists who are qualified and eligible for specialist registration will be included on the Specialist division of the register. Specialist titles are protected under the National Law. See the specialist registration.

Limited registration

See the Limited registration section on the Overseas qualified practitioners page. Divisions include:

postgraduate training or supervised practice
teaching or research

Non-practising registration

This type of registration is for dental hygienists, dental prosthetists, dental therapists, dentists (including dental specialists) and oral health therapists who choose to cease all practice activities.

Other forms of registration

The Board can also grant student registration to dental practitioner students undertaking an approved program of study.

Dentists who have qualified outside of Australia and wish to apply for registration can find information on our Overseas qualified practitioners page.

Endorsements

Endorsement of registration identifies practitioners with additional qualifications and specific expertise. The Board has the following area of practice endorsement for dentists:

area of practice (conscious sedation) - refer to the Conscious sedation page

Who is Ahpra?

The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) supports the 15 National Boards in their role of protecting the public and setting standards and policies that all registered health practitioners must meet.

Ahpra and the National Boards work together to register and renew health practitioners and, where required, investigate complaints or concerns regarding health practitioners.

Ahpra's operations are governed by the Health Practitioner Regulation National Law which came into effect on 1 July 2010. This law applies in each Australian state and territory, and is sometimes referred to on our sites as ‘the National Law’.

All health practitioners registered to practise are included on the national register of practitioners which is managed by Ahpra.

Find out more about Ahpra.