2The specialist title
Dental specialists and their titles
The Dental Board of Australia recognises 13 dental specialties, approved by the Australian Health Workforce Ministerial Council, and each has one or more specialist titles. Section 115 of the National Law forbids anyone to knowingly or recklessly use the title “dental specialist” without registration in a recognised dental specialty, or a specialty’s own title without registration in that specialty.
General information, not legal advice. The Dental Board’s specialist registration page is the place to check, and Ahpra’s register shows the specialty or specialties each specialist dentist holds.
The list
Thirteen specialties and their titles
The Board’s list pairs each recognised specialty with the title or titles a specialist in it may use.
| No. | Specialty | Specialist titles |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dentomaxillofacial radiology | Dento-maxillofacial radiologist; Oral and maxillofacial radiologist; Dental radiologist |
| 2 | Endodontics | Endodontist |
| 3 | Forensic odontology | Forensic odontologist; Forensic dentist |
| 4 | Oral and maxillofacial surgery | Oral and maxillofacial surgeon |
| 5 | Oral medicine | Specialist in oral medicine; Oral medicine specialist |
| 6 | Oral and maxillofacial pathology | Oral and maxillofacial pathologist |
| 7 | Oral surgery | Oral surgeon |
| 8 | Orthodontics | Orthodontist |
| 9 | Paediatric dentistry | Specialist in paediatric dentistry; Paediatric dentist; Paedodontist |
| 10 | Periodontics | Periodontist |
| 11 | Prosthodontics | Prosthodontist |
| 12 | Public health dentistry (Community dentistry) | Specialist in public health dentistry |
| 13 | Special needs dentistry | Specialist in special needs dentistry |
Oral and maxillofacial surgery is recognised by both the Dental Board and the Medical Board of Australia, and the Board says it needs qualifications in both medicine and dentistry.
Registration
How a dentist becomes a specialist
The Board’s guidelines describe specialists as dentists who have done further specialised education and training, on top of at least two years in general dental practice. To apply, a dentist must hold general registration and be on the Register of practitioners in the dentists division.
The Board’s specialist registration standard sets the requirements. They include:
- at least two years of general dental practice, which may be gained outside Australia if the Board assesses and approves it
- meeting every other requirement for general registration as a dentist.
A small number of specialists are registered only on the Board’s Specialists Register, a result of the legislative framework one jurisdiction had before the National Scheme began.
The Law
ProhibitionSection 115, word for word
“(1) A person must not knowingly or recklessly take or use”
“(a) the title ‘dental specialist’ unless the person is registered under this Law in a recognised specialty in the dentists division of the dental profession; or
(b) the title ‘medical specialist’ unless the person is registered in a recognised specialty in the medical profession; or
(c) a specialist title for a recognised specialty unless the person is registered under this Law in the specialty.”
“(3) Subsection (1) applies whether or not the title is taken or used with or without any other words and whether in English or any other language.”
Health Practitioner Regulation National Law, section 115(1) and (3). The National Law has the whole section.
Ahpra’s advertising guidelines carry the rule into advertising: only a practitioner who holds specialist registration in a recognised specialty may use its title in advertising, and that includes the name of the business.
Advertising
Specialist words in an advertisement
The title is not the only word that counts. Ahpra’s guidance on titles names four:
- “specialist”
- “specialises in”
- “specialty”
- “specialised”
Used in advertising, those words or variations of them suggest the practitioner holds specialist registration, and Ahpra says that is likely to mislead the public if they do not. The National Boards take the same view of any wording related to a specialty when the practitioner has no specialist registration.
Ahpra’s wider test for titles: a title in an advertisement must not lead a consumer to believe the practitioner holds a specialist registration or endorsement they do not hold, or suggest they are more highly skilled or qualified than they are. Its page for the public adds that claims in an advertisement about a practitioner’s title, qualifications, specialty, training and experience must be factual.
The guide to advertising covers the rest of section 133.
Definitions
Three of the Board’s definitions
The Board’s list defines every specialty. Three, put in plain words; the Board’s list has all 13.
- Orthodontics
- The branch of dentistry covering “supervision, guidance and correction” of dentofacial structures, both growing and mature.
- Paediatric dentistry
- Oral healthcare, preventive and therapeutic, for children from birth through to adolescence and those with special needs.
- Prosthodontics
- Restoring and keeping oral health, function and appearance, by altering or rebuilding natural teeth, or by replacing missing teeth and nearby tissues with substitutes.
The register
Checking a specialist
Ahpra explains why specialist titles exist: dentistry, like medicine and podiatry, has approved specialist titles, and a practitioner who uses one has extra training and qualifications in a specialty field. Ahpra’s online register shows each dental practitioner’s registration status and, for dentists with specialist registration, the specialty or specialties they hold. Any type of registration or condition that limits what a practitioner can do is published there as well.
One title change elsewhere does not touch dentistry. Ahpra says the newer section of the National Law on the title “surgeon” only applies to registered medical practitioners, and does not change the rules for practitioners with specialist registration in dentistry, or for dentists using the title “dental surgeon”.