Prescribed qualifications for oral health therapists
Prescribed qualifications are the qualifications prescribed for a scope of practice under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003.
The Dental Council has prescribed the following qualifications for the scope of practice for oral health therapy.
New Zealand
- University of Otago Bachelor of Oral Health1 and a Dental Council New Zealand accredited Adult restorative programme
- Auckland University of Technology Bachelor of Health Science in Oral Health2 and a Dental Council New Zealand accredited Adult restorative programme.
1 Qualification obtained since 2009 onwards
2 Qualification obtained since 2008 onwards
Australia
- Dental Board of Australia-approved programmes that allow graduates registration in the Oral Health Therapist Scope of Practice in Australia. For those Australian programmes where the adult restorative treatment is not accredited as part of the undergraduate programme, a Dental Council New Zealand accredited programme is required to remove the Adult restorative treatment exclusion.
Other
- New Zealand Oral Health Therapist Registration Examination and a Dental Council New Zealand accredited Adult restorative programme.
Dental Council accredited Adult restorative programme
- Graduate Certificate in Dental Therapy (Advanced Clinical Practice), University of Melbourne3
- Postgraduate Certificate in Health Sciences (endorsed in Adult Restorative Dental Care), University of Otago4
- Graduate Certificate of Health Sciences (Oral Health), Auckland University of Technology5
3 Accredited 5 December 2022
4 Accredited 7 August 2023
5 Accredited 9 July 2024