Profession-specific standards3 hours
Ethics for Dental Professionals
The Dental Council's five ethical principles and 28 professional standards applied to fees, treatment planning, consent, cosmetic care and disclosure.
NZ$139DetailsAdd to cart
Profession-specific standards
Professional Standards for Dental Professionals
Registration, scope, team practice and the clinical standards that keep oral health care safe in Aotearoa New Zealand
- 3hours (estimated)
- 11sections
- 20final questions
- 80%pass mark
- PDFcertificate
- Online and self-paced, on any device
- Reflective account template
- Knowledge checks in every section
- Instant certificate of completion
What you will learn
- Explain the statutory duties attached to registration, scope of practice and the annual practising certificate for oral health practitioners.
- Apply the scopes of practice and their supervision conditions to rostering and delegation decisions in a dental team.
- Describe the 2021 changes to working relationships and the role of standing orders for non-prescribing practitioners.
- Apply the main requirements of the Dental Council's Infection prevention and control practice standard (December 2024), including traceability and validation.
- State the resuscitation training, equipment, medicines and team procedures the Medical emergencies practice standard requires for your profession.
- Summarise the key requirements of the Sedation practice standard (March 2026) and the legal framework for dental radiation and prescribing.
- Manage complaints and online reviews in line with Right 10 of the Code of Rights and privacy obligations.
- Describe the notification duties of employers and colleagues under the HPCA Act and Dental Council guidance.
- Use the recertification programme to maintain and evidence standards across career transitions and at the end of practice.
- Prepare for a competence review and build a remediation plan mapped to the relevant standards.
Who this course is for
Oral health practitioners registered with the Dental Council: dentists, dental specialists, dental hygienists, dental therapists, oral health therapists, orthodontic auxiliaries, clinical dental technicians and dental technicians; also practice owners and managers.
After a concern
Structured learning and a written reflection to show insight after a complaint, an investigation or a responsible authority inquiry.
Routine CPD
Focused learning on a core standard of practice, with a certificate and reflection for your portfolio.
About this course
This course explains the professional standards that govern how oral health practitioners and dental teams work in Aotearoa New Zealand: registration and annual practising certificate duties, scopes of practice and their supervision conditions, delegation to unregistered staff, the Dental Council's practice standards on infection prevention and control (2024), medical emergencies and sedation (2026), radiation safety and medicines, complaints handling, conduct, notifications and the recertification programme.
It is written for dentists, dental specialists, dental hygienists, dental therapists, oral health therapists, orthodontic auxiliaries, clinical dental technicians and dental technicians, and is useful for practice owners and managers who organise dental teams. Every section uses New Zealand cases set in real-world dental settings, from solo rural practices to community oral health services and multi-chair corporate clinics.
The Dental Council's standards are applied in competence reviews, Health and Disability Commissioner investigations, Professional Conduct Committees and the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal. Many concerns about oral health practitioners turn on everyday systems: a lapsed APC, an unvalidated steriliser, an expired emergency kit or a missed notification. This course helps you check those systems, close gaps and show evidence of your standards through your recertification programme.
Course details
- Learning time
- Approximately 3 hours (estimated learning time including knowledge checks, reflection and assessment)
- Standards covered
- Dental Council Standards Framework for Oral Health Practitioners (28 professional standards); Infection prevention and control practice standard (December 2024); Medical emergencies practice standard (August 2021); Sedation practice standard (March 2026); scopes of practice (2021 Gazette notice); recertification programme; HPCA Act 2003; Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights (Right 10); Health Information Privacy Code 2020; Health (Retention of Health Information) Regulations 1996; Radiation Safety Act 2016 and ORS C4 2024
- Format
- Self-paced, gated lessons with knowledge checks, case studies and reflection
- Assessment
- 20 scenario-based questions, 80% to pass (16 of 20)
- Outcome
- Certificate of completion and a written reflection for your CPD record
- Alignment
- Mapped to the Dental Council's Standards Framework, practice standards and recertification programme (professional peer, PDP and written reflection); not approved by the Dental Council
Course curriculum
11 sections · 26 lessons · 3 hours (estimated) · 20-question final assessment
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1The dental team and the legal basis of professional standards3 lessons
- Professional standards for the whole dental team
- Registration, scope and the annual practising certificate
- Holding yourself out: titles, specialist status and the public register
-
2Scopes of practice, team roles and delegation3 lessons
- The scopes of practice in a working team
- Working relationships, standing orders and collaboration since 2021
- Dental assistants, students and safe delegation
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3The clinical environment I: infection prevention and control3 lessons
- The Infection prevention and control practice standard: structure and accountability
- Reprocessing, traceability, validation and waterlines
- Standard precautions, exposure incidents and the team's daily habits
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4The clinical environment II: emergencies, sedation, radiation and medicines3 lessons
- Medical emergencies: training, equipment and team drills
- The 2026 Sedation practice standard
- Radiation safety and medicines: two areas of shared legal duty
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5Complaints, online conduct and practice systems3 lessons
- Complaints handling in a dental practice
- Online reviews, social media and patient information
- Practice systems and clinical governance in small teams
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6Professional conduct, teamwork and notifications3 lessons
- Respectful teams: communication, hierarchy and laboratory relationships
- Conduct outside the surgery, convictions and public trust
- Notifications: the duties of employers and colleagues
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7Maintaining standards across a career3 lessons
- Making the recertification programme work for you
- Career transitions: new graduates, new settings and returning to practice
- Retiring, selling or closing a practice
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8When standards are questioned: review, discipline and remediation2 lessons
- When the Council asks whether your practice meets the standard: competence reviews
- Conduct concerns and building a credible remediation plan
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9Conclusion and key points1 lesson
- Conclusion and key points
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10References and further reading1 lesson
- References and further reading
-
11Reflection1 lesson
- Your reflective account
Assessment and certificate
Final assessment
20scenario-based questions
- Pass mark 80%: 16 correct out of 20
- Knowledge checks in each section as you go
- Tests whether you can apply the standards, not recall a page
- Not passed yet? Review the sections and retake it
Certificate of completion
A certificate of completion for your learning portfolio.
- Your name, the course title and the estimated learning time (record the time you actually spend)
- Completion date and a unique certificate ID that can be verified
- Ready to download as a PDF as soon as you complete the course
Fitness To Practice
Certificate of Completion
This certifies that
Your Name
has successfully completed
Professional Standards for Dental Professionals
3hours (estimated)
Continuing professional development record — New Zealand
Your reflective account
The course includes a structured reflective account template: guided prompts to record what you learned, how you will apply it and how the change will show in your practice. It gives you written evidence of insight after a concern, and a ready record for your CPD portfolio.
Write it in your own words and leave out anything that could identify a patient, a colleague or a case. If you have an open complaint or case, talk to your adviser before reflecting on it in writing.
Questions about this course
Which Dental Council practice standards are covered in detail?
Infection prevention and control (December 2024), including traceability and validation; medical emergencies, including resuscitation training, equipment, medicines and team procedures for your profession; sedation (March 2026); and the legal framework for dental radiation and prescribing. Each standard is explained in terms of what your team must actually have in place and do on a normal clinic day.
Does the course explain how scopes and supervision conditions affect rostering?
Yes. It applies the scopes of practice and their supervision conditions to rostering and delegation in a dental team, describes the 2021 changes to working relationships, and explains standing orders for non-prescribing practitioners and delegation to unregistered staff, so the right person does each task.
How should a dental practice handle complaints and online reviews?
In line with Right 10 of the Code of Rights and privacy obligations: acknowledge, look into the concern and respond without disclosing health information publicly. The course also covers the notification duties of employers and colleagues under the HPCA Act and Dental Council guidance.
Is the professional standards course the same as the dental ethics course?
No. Dental ethics covers values and dilemmas such as fees, overtreatment and consent. This course covers the standards of conduct and competence that govern registration, scopes, the clinical environment and team practice, and how to prepare for a competence review. Many practitioners take both.
Does the Dental Council approve this professional standards course?
No. It is independent, and the Council does not approve outside courses or set minimum hours. You can include it as a professional development activity linked to your PDP and discuss it with your professional peer. It is 3 hours (estimated) online with a 20-question test, for NZ$139.
How this course was built
Official sources only
Every legal and regulatory point comes from primary sources: the HPCA Act 2003, the responsible authorities' standards and the Code of Health and Disability Services Consumers' Rights. Anything we cannot confirm is left out.
Original, edition by edition
Lessons, scenarios and assessment questions are written by us for each edition separately, then checked for accuracy, teaching quality and fair assessment before publication.
Reviewed when rules change
When a code, standard or law changes, the affected courses are reviewed and updated. Reported errors in legal or regulatory facts are corrected first.
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