About the Dental Council
Contact us
Oral Health practitioner register Practitioner portal
Oral Health practitioner register Practitioner portal

Practising status and annual practising certificate

You need to renew your practising intentions every year and ensure that you have a current annual practising certificate to practise your profession.

About one month before your annual renewal cycle ends, you will be issued with a form to complete online, and you will be asked to select one of the following:

  • I intend to practise in New Zealand – this is an application for an annual practising certificate (APC)
  • I wish to be retained on the register as non-practising
  • I wish to be removed from the register.

Annual practising cycles by profession

  • 1 October – 30 September for dentists and dental specialists
  • 1 April – 31 March for oral health therapists, dental therapists, dental hygienists, clinical dental and dental technicians, and orthodontic auxiliaries.

You must ensure that you have completed and paid your renewal form and provided any additional information we may request before the end of the cycle to have a new practising certificate issued for the next cycle. If you have not renewed in time, you can only start practising once you have been issued with a new practising certificate. All practising certificates are issued via email. 

If you have just been registered, or you are applying for a practising certificate after a period of non-practising on the register, you need to ensure an APC has been issued to you before commencing practice. 

Points to consider when choosing between being retained on the register as non-practising, or being removed from the register:

Non-practising

Removal from the register
  • There is no limit on the length of time a practitioner can be retained on the register while not practising. However, to be retained on the register you update your practising intentions each year and pay the annual retention fee.
  • There is no fee for removal from the register.  
  • While retained on the register as non-practising you are not required to meet the annual recertification requirements, but participation is strongly encouraged as you will need to demonstrate how you have maintained your competence to practise on application for an annual practising certificate.  
  • If you decide that you would like to resume practising at a later date, you would need to apply to be restored to the register. There is a restoration to the register fee, in addition to the annual practising certificate fee.
  • For practitioners who have practised in New Zealand or in a competent authority jurisdiction or comparable health system within the 3 years prior to applying for a practising certificate, and have no health, conduct or competence disclosures to make, the process is usually completed within 1 week of receiving a complete application. 
  • You would need to provide supporting documents with your restoration application to check your identity, and determine that you meet the requirements to be restored to the register and be issued a practising certificate. 

The Council can only issue you an annual practising certificate if it is satisfied that you meet the required standard of competence for your scope of practice.

If you are applying for an annual practising certificate after not practising in New Zealand for more than three years, you will need to provide additional information about how you’ve maintained your competence to practise.

If you have:

  • not kept up to date with contemporary practice, or
  • been absent from practice for more than three years, or
  • been practising in a jurisdiction that does not have a comparable health system to that of New Zealand, 

you may need to undertake further training, and/or complete a period of supervised practice.

Your application will be considered against recency of practice criteria set out in our Practising certificates policy.

There is an additional fee for applications that are referred to the Council for a decision.

Online guides