Newsletter: November 2018

From Friday 14 September, we started using our new IT system internally including processing applications from dentists and dental specialists for their annual practising cycle.

We expect that early next year, the practitioner portal will be opened for all practitioners and applicants to complete transactions online. You will receive more information about how to set up your online account to access the practitioner portal at the relevant time.

New graduates applying for registration and an APC should use the form on our website. 

In the meantime, practitioners should be aware of the following changes to the way information is displayed on the public register now that we have started using our new IT system.

Registration numbers replaced by 'Person ID' number

With our new IT system, we have moved to using sequential numeric person ID numbers for each practitioner. Your person ID number will appear on your APC certificate and on your entry in the public register.

The new IT system uses a single unique identifier for each practitioner (the ‘person ID’). Therefore the Council will no longer use profession based registration numbers (e.g. DD1234, DH2345, DT3456, or DN4567) to identify and communicate with practitioners, and will use the person ID instead.

Previously practitioners’ registration numbers were shown and could be searched on the public register. The public register now shows the practitioner’s person ID and HPI numbers.

We have been in contact with the Ministry of Health, ACC, and the pharmacy sector to ascertain how the change may impact their systems. If practitioners are required to make any process changes, we will advise you.   

Qualifications displayed on the register

You will notice that only qualifications that enabled registration in a scope of practice now appear on the public register. We alerted practitioners to this change last year.

The only variation to this information relates to practitioners registered in the oral and maxillofacial surgery (OMFS) specialist scope of practice.

Council has considered that where an individual practising in the OMFS scope has obtained a medical degree before the Dental Council required this qualification for registration as an oral and maxillofacial surgeon in New Zealand, their medical qualification will be displayed for the benefit of the public. The reason for this is the nature of the medical components of an OMFS specialist, the potential for dual registration with the Medical Council, and because a medical degree has been required for registration in this scope of practice since the early 2000s.

Dentist and dental specialist APC cycle

Dentists and dental specialists who recently filed their APC or retention applications will have noticed some changes. In particular:

• Annual practising certificates were issued by email.
• Invoices were sent by email as a record for practitioners. Payment was processed as permitted by your completed APC form.
• You will notice that a ‘person ID’ number and not your registration number appears on your APC certificate. As noted above, the person ID number now appears on the public register and we will no longer use registration numbers to reference individual practitioners in our communications.
• If we do not have a current email address for you, you would have received your APC certificate by post.
• If you have received your APC certificate by post, please provide us with an email address (one that is only used by you) as soon as possible to ensure you can create an account and use our new IT system in the future.
• The public register was updated as soon as your application was processed – if your practising status for 2018/19 has been updated on the register and you have not received your APC certificate, please contact us.