Australian Dentistry Overview

Photo Credit - @Anusha Kareem

"Success is the sum of small efforts repeated day in and day out! " - Robert Collier

WORKING IN AUSTRALIA

The Overseas qualified dental practitioners wanting to register to practise with the Dental Board of Australia (DBA) are required to contact the Australian Dental Council (ADC) which is the organisation responsible for assessing overseas trained dentists to enable them to obtain registration in Australia.

Recognition Procedures in Australia

1. Qualifications Immediately Acceptable to Registration Boards

• Qualified in United Kingdom, Ireland, New Zealand or Australia – Initial Assessment of Documents

• Qualified and certified in Canada after March 2010 – Initial Assessment of Documents

2. Qualifications Not Immediately Acceptable to Registration Boards

• If your qualifications do not immediately meet Australian requirements, there are two options.

1.To complete an Australian dental degree course at one of the Australian Universities.

• Universities of Adelaide

• University of Melbourne

• University of Queensland

• University of Sydney

• University of Western Australia

2. Undergo the assessment and examination process that has been approved for the purposes of registration in Australia - The ADC Examinations. It consists of three stages

• an initial assessment

• a written examination

• a practical examination.

Dental Board of Australia (DBA)

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The Dental Board of Australia is supported by State and Regional Boards which represent each State and Territory. The State and Regional Boards are as follows:

• New South Wales (State)

• Australian Capital Territory, Tasmania and Victoria (Regional)

• Northern Territory and South Australia (Regional)

• Queensland (State)

• Western Australia (State).

These Boards make individual registration and notification decisions, based on national policies and standards set by the Dental Board of Australia.

THE INITIAL ASSESSMENT

​Minimum requirements are:

• Qualification(s) at the required level comparable in duration and content to the relevant Australian dental profession .(Dentists – 4-year, full-time university dental degree, or diploma at an acknowledged university)

• Registration or license in a home country or country of training with no withdrawal of registration

• Letter/Certificate of Good Standing from the most recent registration/licencing authority

• Two written professional references attesting to competence and good standing

• Skills Assessment applicants do not need to provide English language test (IELTS) results. However, as written and practical examinations that are part of the full assessment are conducted in English, candidates are expected to have a language knowledge comparable to the minimal scores for each module in various tests like

• IELTS - Minimum 7

• PTE Academic - 65

• OET - B

• TOFEL - 23 - speaking , 24 - Listening and Reading and 27 - Writing

Interesting Reads

1. Article in by Dr Song