Dental regulation at work: Protecting the public

​A profession-specific annual report summary that looks into the work of the Dental Board of Australia over the year to 30 June 2016 has now been published.

The report draws on data from the 2015/16 annual report by AHPRA and the National Boards.

Information includes the number of applications for registration, outcomes of criminal history checks and segmentation of the registrant base by gender, age, division and principal place of practice.

Notifications information includes the number of complaints or concerns received, matters open and closed during the year, statutory offence complaints (such as advertising breaches) and matters that required immediate action.

Insights into the profession include:

a. As at 30 June 2016, there were 21,741 registered dental practitioners in Australia.  Dental practitioners made up 3.3% of all registered health practitioners. Women made up 49% of the profession. 

b. New South Wales was the principal place of practice for most dental practitioners (6,580); the Northern Territory was home to the least (153). 

c. The age bracket with the most practitioners was 30-34 (3,321 registrants). 827 dental practitioners were under 25 years of age; 59 were aged 80 or over. 

d. The total number of registered dental students increased by 2.1% compared to 2014/15 (to 4,810). As part of the registration process, 1,992 criminal history checks were carried out. Of 96 disclosable court outcomes, one required regulatory action. 

e. 1,025 notifications (complaints or concerns) were lodged with AHPRA about dental practitioners during the year. 196 matters were raised about possible statutory offences relating to dental services in 2015/16 – almost all new matters related to the use of protected titles or advertising concerns.

To download this report, or to view the main 2015/16 annual report and summary reports by state or territory, visit the microsite.

In the coming month, AHPRA and the National Boards will publish summaries that break down 2015/16 data for the remaining 13 boards in the National Scheme.