Ethics and professionalism CPD for health practitioners in Australia [email protected]
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Online course · Australia

Professionalism and Professional Standards for Dental Practitioners

Scope, Records, Infection Control and Conduct for the Dental Team

  • About 2 hours
  • 15 scenario questions
  • Reflective account
  • Certificate of completion
  • Online, self-paced

About this course

Five divisions share one Dental Board and one set of standards, but scope, supervision and responsibility look different from chair to chair. This course works through the professional standards that apply to every member of the registered dental team and how to meet them in a busy practice.

The course opens with the professional standards framework for the dental team: one Board, five divisions, and the standards and guidelines that are used as evidence when practice is questioned. It explains the registration obligations and declarations every dental practitioner makes.

Scope of practice is covered in detail, including education, training and competence, how scope differs across the divisions, directing and delegating within the team and expanding scope safely. A section on infection prevention and control explains the Board's current approach, precautions, reprocessing and traceability, blood-borne viruses and how to respond to a failure. Dental records get a full section, from what a good record contains to templates, photographs, retention and self-audit.

The final sections cover the dental CPD requirements, recency and returning to practice, a personal competence portfolio, clinical independence in corporate practice, supervising students and limited registrants, practitioner health and mandatory notifications, and what to do when treatment goes wrong.

What you will learn

  • Find your way around the Dental Board's standards and guidelines and understand how they are used as evidence
  • Confirm what your division, education and training allow you to do, and stay within it
  • Hand over tasks to other team members only when they are trained, competent and authorised
  • Run infection prevention and control on current evidence and handle blood-borne virus questions correctly
  • Write dental records that are complete and lawful, and check them with a simple self-audit
  • Plan CPD around what will change your practice and stay on the right side of the recency standard
  • Keep clinical decisions independent of commercial pressure and respond well when treatment goes wrong

Who this course is for

  • Dentists and dental specialists
  • Oral health therapists, hygienists and dental therapists
  • Dental prosthetists
  • Practice owners and clinical leads responsible for infection control and records
  • Dental practitioners returning to practice or expanding their scope

How the course works

  1. After checkout the course is added to My Courses in your account, so you can start straight away on any device with a modern browser.

  2. Move through 6 sections (24 lessons in total) in your own time; lessons open in sequence and the player remembers where you stopped on that device.

  3. Each section ends with key points and prompts for reflection. Your notes can be downloaded as a Word course pack or printed for your portfolio.

  4. Sit the 15-question assessment at the end. Score 80% or more (12 of 15) to pass; answer options are reshuffled if you retake.

  5. Complete the reflective account and feedback to finish. Your certificate of completion shows the estimated learning time (about 2 hours), and you record the time you actually spend in your CPD log.

Course content

7 sections · About 2 hours · 15-question final assessment

1The Professional Standards Framework for the Dental Team4 lessons
  • Five Divisions, One Board
  • The Board's Standards and Guidelines
  • How Standards Are Used When Practice Is Questioned
  • Registration Obligations and Honest Declarations
2Scope of Practice in Everyday Dentistry4 lessons
  • Education, Training and Competence
  • Scope Across the Divisions
  • Directing and Delegating Within the Team
  • Expanding Scope Safely
3Infection Prevention and Control4 lessons
  • The Board's Current Approach
  • Precautions, Reprocessing and Traceability
  • Blood-Borne Viruses and the Practitioner
  • Responding to Infection Control Failures
4Dental Records4 lessons
  • What a Good Dental Record Contains
  • Amendments, Retention and Access
  • Templates, Digital Systems and Photographs
  • Auditing and Improving Your Records
5CPD, Recency and Maintaining Competence4 lessons
  • The Dental CPD Requirements
  • Planning CPD That Changes Practice
  • Recency of Practice and Returning to Practice
  • Keeping a Personal Competence Portfolio
6Conduct and Accountability in the Dental Workplace4 lessons
  • Clinical Independence in Corporate and Employed Practice
  • Supervision, Students and Limited Registrants
  • Practitioner Health and Mandatory Notifications
  • When Things Go Wrong
7Conclusion, Final Assessment and Reflection4 lessons
  • Conclusion and key points
  • References and quick-reference guide
  • Final assessment (15 questions, 80% pass mark)
  • Your reflective account

Assessment and certificate

  • Certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time (about 2 hours); record the time you actually spend.
  • A written reflective account you can keep with your CPD records.

Questions about this course

Does the course reflect the current infection control approach?

Yes. It explains the Dental Board's current position on infection prevention and control and the national standards it relies on, with practical points on reprocessing, traceability and blood-borne viruses.

I am an oral health therapist. Is the scope material relevant to me?

Yes. Scope is explained division by division, including how oral health therapists, hygienists and therapists work within their education and training and with other team members.

Does it include anything for practice owners?

Yes. Lessons on clinical independence, delegation, records systems and infection control failures include points for owners and clinical leads, not only individual clinicians.

How long are dental records kept?

Retention periods depend on state and territory law and on whether the patient was a child. The course explains the principles and points you to the rules that apply where you practise.

What evidence do I get when I finish?

You receive a certificate of completion stating the estimated learning time, and you can download a course pack holding your learning record, a revision sheet and your own reflections. Your CPD log should show the time you actually spend.

Does completing the course satisfy a condition or undertaking?

Not automatically. Where a Board has set education as a condition or undertaking, the course usually has to be nominated and accepted first, so check with Ahpra or the Board, and your legal adviser or defence organisation, before you enrol.

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