Notice Under the Legislation Act 2019 of Prescribed Qualifications for Scope of Practice for General Dental Practice

Under the Legislation Act 2019, notice is given of the making of the following secondary legislation:

Title	Empowering provision(s)	Administering agency	Date made
Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003	Section 12	Dental Council	31 March 2026

This secondary legislation can be accessed at: https://dcnz.org.nz/resources-and-publications/resources/gazette-notices/.

The following notice replaces the prescribed qualifications for the scope of practice for general dental practice as published in the New Zealand Gazette, 28 July 2023, Notice No. 2023-sl3384. The scope of practice and competencies for general dental practice as published in the New Zealand Gazette, 12 November 2021, Notice No. 2021-sl4804 remain unchanged.

Prescribed Qualifications for the Scope of Practice for General Dental Practice

New Zealand Accredited Programmes

Bachelor of Dental Surgery, University of Otago.
Bachelor of Dental Surgery with Honours, University of Otago.

Competent Authority – Qualification

Australia

An Australian Dental Council accredited programme¹.
An Australian educational institution dental degree approved by the Dental Board of Australia for the purposes of general dentistry registration in Australia².
A dental degree and a pass in the Australian Dental Council licensing examinations.

United Kingdom (UK)

An approved UK educational institution dental degree accredited by the General Dental Council.
An approved Commonwealth educational institution dental degree accredited by the General Dental Council, as listed below:

Dental School	Dates of Recognition – student must have completed and satisfied all programme requirements before the end-date listed below
Western Cape	Before 1 January 1998
Hong Kong	Before 1 January 2001
Singapore	Before 1 January 2001
Witwatersrand	Before 1 January 2001
Pretoria	Before 1 January 2001
Stellenbosch	Before 1 January 2001
Medical University of South Africa	1 January 1997 – 31 December 2000
Malaysia	1 January 1997 – 31 December 2000

Ireland

A Republic of Ireland educational institution dental degree accredited by the Dental Council of Ireland³.

Canada

A Canadian educational institution dental degree accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada.
A dental degree and a pass in the National Dental Examining Board of Canada Equivalency Examination Process⁴.

United States of America (USA)

A USA educational institution dental degree accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation.
A dental degree and a pass in the USA licensing examinations⁵.

New Zealand Examination

A dentist qualification and a pass in the New Zealand Dental Registration Examination⁶.

Competent Authority – Registration⁷ (from 1 November 2026)

Current full/unrestricted/unconditional registration in general dental practice with one or more competent authority(s) recognised by the Dental Council⁸; and
Clinical practice⁹ in general dentistry in one or more competent authority(s) for at least 33 months (working 20 hours or more per week) during the 48 months immediately prior to application.

Comparable Health System¹⁰ (from 1 November 2026)

Current full/unrestricted/unconditional registration in general dental practice in one or more comparable health system(s) recognised by the Dental Council¹¹; and
Clinical practice¹² in general dentistry in one or more of the recognised comparable health system(s) for at least 33 months (working 20 hours or more per week) during the 48 months immediately prior to the application¹³.

Dated at Wellington this 31st day of March 2026.

MARIE MACKAY, Chief Executive, Dental Council.

Endnotes

1. Before 30 June 2010, and before 17 October 2010 for Western Australia.

2. From 1 July 2010 onwards, and 18 October 2010 onwards for Western Australia.

3. Graduate cohorts from 2022 onwards.

4. A pass in all of the National Dental Examining Board of Canada Equivalency Examinations after 3 March 2014.

5. United States of America licensing examinations must include a theory assessment and a psychomotor clinical assessment.

6. Administered by the National Dental Examining Board of Canada on behalf of the Dental Council since August 2015.

7. Upon commencement of practice in New Zealand, practitioners registered under the competent authority registration pathway will practise under the oversight of a Dental Council approved practitioner for a period of at least six months under the terms of the oversight protocol.

8. United Kingdom (General Dental Council), Republic of Ireland (Dental Council of Ireland), Canada (provincial dental regulators), United States of America (state dental boards), Australia (Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency) for the purposes of general dental practice.

9. Clinical practice means the maintenance of health through the assessment, diagnosis, management, treatment, and prevention of any disease, disorder or condition of the orofacial complex and associated structures.

10. Upon commencement of practice in New Zealand, practitioners registered under the comparable health system pathway will practise under the direct (onsite) supervision of a Dental Council approved practitioner for at least 12 months under the terms of the supervision protocol.

11. Austria, Belgium, Hong Kong, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Norway, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Netherlands for the purposes of general dental practice.

12. Clinical practice means the maintenance of health through the assessment, diagnosis, management, treatment, and prevention of any disease, disorder or condition of the orofacial complex and associated structures.

13. Comparable health system practice experience within the required timeframe may be combined with competent authority practice experience where that experience is not sufficient for the competent authority registration pathway.

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