Concerns and complaints

Read our patient guide

Oral health practitioners must provide care that is safe, competent, and ethical. If you are worried about the care you received, you can raise your concern with the Dental Council. Our role is to assess risk and take regulatory action where necessary to protect public safety. 

If you’re unhappy with your dental treatment, service, costs, or have experienced harm, we recommend first contacting your dental provider to try to resolve the issue directly. 

If you’re unable to resolve the issue, or don’t feel comfortable contacting the provider, you can reach out to us for advice on next steps. The Council does not impose disciplinary penalties, award compensation, or order costs.

Getting advice and support

We can guide you through your options for support, complaints, and possible outcomes. These may include:

• Nationwide Health and Disability Advocacy Service (free, independent support)
• Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC)
• Dental Council
• Disputes Tribunal
• Accident Compensation Corporation (ACC)

Professional associations 

These are membership organisations for oral health professions who can offer profession-specific information, advice and support. They offer processes and services to support resolution between practitioners and patients.  

• New Zealand Dental Association (NZDA) – dentists and dental specialists
• New Zealand Institute of Dental Technologists (NZIDT) – dental technicians and clinical dental technicians
• Te Ohu Pūniho Ora o Aotearoa - New Zealand Oral Health Association (NZOHA) – oral health therapists, dental hygienists and dental therapists

Health and Disability Commissioner (HDC)

If your concern is about the quality of care you or someone else received and hasn’t been resolved, you can make a written complaint to the HDC. They assess whether a provider has breached patient rights and may investigate further.

Dental Council

You can provide information to us about any registered oral health practitioner.

We regulate dentists, dental specialists, oral health therapists, dental hygienists, dental therapists, dental technicians, clinical dental technicians, and orthodontic auxiliaries. You can check our public register to confirm whether a practitioner is registered with the Council.

If your concern relates to care or treatment you received, the HDC may need to consider the matter first. The HDC and the Council have different roles, and some concerns may be referred between our organisations.

Our role is to protect the health and safety of the public. We do not provide a complaint resolution service or determine compensation. Instead, we assess concerns and decide whether regulatory action may be needed.

Concerns about oral health practitioners generally fall into one of three categories:

Competence: is the practitioner competent to practise?

Health: is the practitioner's health affecting their ability to practise safely?

Conduct: is the practitioner’s conduct appropriate?

If you would like to know more about what we expect from oral health practitioners, have a look at our Standards framework for oral health practitioners. The standards framework describes the minimum standards of ethical conduct, and clinical and cultural competence that patients and the public can expect from oral health practitioners.

There are three components to the standards framework that all registered oral health practitioners must meet:

Ethical principles
The ethical principles that form the foundation for the professional standards

Professional standards
Describe the actions and behaviours expected from practitioners to support competent, safe and ethical practice

Practice standards
Developed for specific practice areas where additional detail is required to ensure practitioners meet the professional standards.