About the Dental Council
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Oral Health practitioner register Practitioner portal

Dental Council role and regulatory functions

The Dental Council is established under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 (HPCA Act) to protect the health and safety of the public by ensuring oral health practitioners are competent and fit to practise.

Our role is to regulate oral health practitioners in New Zealand and maintain public confidence in the oral health professions. We do this by setting standards, monitoring professional compliance, and taking appropriate action where concerns are raised about a practitioner’s competence, health, or conduct.

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Our role is to regulate oral health practitioners across six professions and 21 scopes of practice in New Zealand: dentists and dental specialists, oral health therapists, dental therapists, dental hygienists, clinical dental technicians, and dental technicians. 

The Council uses the regulatory tools in the HPCA Act to meet our responsibility to protect the public. 

We are responsible for:

  • describing the activities of oral health practitioners by setting scopes of practice for each profession
  • setting the standards for clinical competence, cultural competence, and ethical conduct that must be met by oral health practitioners
  • prescribing qualifications for registration, and accrediting and monitoring education programmes to ensure they meet required standards
  • registering oral health practitioners and maintaining a public register
  • issuing annual practising certificates required to practise as an oral health practitioner
  • requiring ongoing continuing professional development through recertification programmes
  • investigating concerns about practitioner competence, health or conduct, and offering appropriate support or taking appropriate regulatory action
  • taking steps to protect public safety, such as imposing conditions, restrictions or suspensions, where necessary. 

We take a right-touch, risk-based approach to regulation. This means we focus our efforts where they are most needed and use the least restrictive response necessary to protect the public.

Our decisions are guided by principles of being proportionate, consistent, targeted, transparent, accountable, and agile. This approach enables us to make fair, evidence-based decisions, respond effectively to changing risks, and maintain public trust and confidence in New Zealand’s oral health professions.

Section 118 of the HPCA Act sets out the functions of each regulatory authority:

(a) to prescribe the qualifications required for scopes of practice within the profession, and, for that purpose, to accredit and monitor educational institutions and degrees, courses of studies, or programmes:

(b) to authorise the registration of health practitioners under this Act, and to maintain registers:

(c) to consider applications for annual practising certificates:

(d) to review and promote the competence of health practitioners:

(e) to recognise, accredit, and set programmes to ensure the ongoing competence of health practitioners:

(f) to receive information from any person about the practice, conduct, or competence of health practitioners and, if it is appropriate to do so, act on that information:

(g) to notify employers, the Accident Compensation Corporation, the Director-General of Health, and the Health and Disability Commissioner that the practice of a health practitioner may pose a risk of harm to the public:

(h) to consider the cases of health practitioners who may be unable to perform the functions required for the practice of the profession:

(i) to set standards of clinical competence, cultural competence (including competencies that will enable effective and respectful interaction with Māori), and ethical conduct to be observed by health practitioners of the profession:

(j) to liaise with other authorities appointed under this Act about matters of common interest:

(ja) to promote and facilitate inter-disciplinary collaboration and co-operation in the delivery of health services:

(k) to promote education and training in the profession:

(l) to promote public awareness of the responsibilities of the authority:

(m) to exercise and perform any other functions, powers, and duties that are conferred or imposed on it by or under this Act or any other enactment.