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Profession-specific course

Professionalism and Professional Standards for Dental Practitioners

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

  • 2 CPD hoursEstimated learning time
  • 15-question assessmentPass mark 80%
  • Online, self-pacedStart any time
  • CertificateFor your CPD records

Written for

About this course

The Dental Board of Australia has moved from detailed rulebooks to principle-based expectations. Its prescriptive infection control and dental records guidelines have been retired, and the 2020 scope of practice standard replaced lists of permitted procedures with a single test: are you educated, trained and competent for this treatment, within your division? That gives dentists, hygienists, therapists, oral health therapists and prosthetists more professional freedom, and more personal accountability when a Board asks why a decision was made.

This course turns that accountability into everyday habits. It shows you how to judge and evidence your scope, what you can and cannot ask assistants and colleagues to do, what an evidence-based infection control system looks like without a Board guideline to point to, how to keep records that will stand up years later, how to plan CPD and recency across the current cycle, and how to hold your clinical independence in corporate practice and respond well when treatment goes wrong.

It is designed as the professional standards companion to a separate ethics course for dental practitioners, so the two do not overlap: this one is about conduct, standards for practice, scope, records, CPD and accountability, while consent, fees and advertising are covered in the ethics course.

Who this course is for

  • General dentists and dental specialists in private, corporate and public practice
  • Dental hygienists, dental therapists and oral health therapists practising with greater independence since the 2020 scope standard
  • Dental prosthetists running their own clinics
  • Practice owners and clinical leads responsible for team roles, infection control systems and records
  • Supervisors of students and practitioners with limited registration
  • Dental practitioners returning to clinical work after a break
  • Practitioners who want a structured refresher on Dental Board standards before a CPD audit or practice inspection

What you’ll learn

  • Know and evidence your scope

    Apply the scope standard to your own division, refer appropriately and keep evidence of education and supervised practice when you expand.

  • Run safe systems

    Build infection prevention and control on current national guidance with validated reprocessing and traceability, and meet blood-borne virus obligations.

  • Write records that protect

    Keep complete, contemporaneous records, correct them transparently, manage templates and photographs, and audit them using the Board's self-reflective approach.

  • Stay accountable

    Plan CPD for the current cycle, meet recency requirements, supervise properly and respond openly when things go wrong.

Learning objectives

  • Describe the Dental Board's registration standards, codes and guidelines and how they are used.
  • Apply the scope of practice standard to your own practice and division.
  • Direct and delegate to team members within their education, training and authority.
  • Maintain evidence-based infection prevention and control and meet blood-borne virus obligations.
  • Keep complete, accurate and lawful dental records and audit them.
  • Meet CPD and recency requirements with meaningful planning.
  • Maintain clinical independence and respond professionally when things go wrong.

Scenarios covered

Practice situations you reason through, step by step, in the course.

  • Fillings for adults?

    An oral health therapist trained for under-26s is asked to restore adult teeth. You will apply the scope test of education, training and competence.

  • Just place the temporary

    A dentist asks an assistant to place a restoration while she sees an emergency. You will see why directing work outside scope is a breach for both.

  • Three days of failed cycles

    A steriliser has been recording incomplete cycles. You will work through stopping, tracing, informing and reporting.

  • The auto-note problem

    Software records a medical history review that never happened. You will learn how templates undermine records and credibility.

  • Too conservative

    A new graduate is told her plans earn less than colleagues'. You will explore clinical independence and documenting reasoning.

  • The wrong premolar

    An orthodontic extraction goes wrong. You will apply the Code of conduct's expectations for open disclosure and learning.

Course contents

6 sections, 24 lessons, then the final assessment.

  1. Section 1: The Professional Standards Framework for the Dental Team4 lessons
    • 1.1 Five Divisions, One Board
    • 1.2 The Board's Standards and Guidelines
    • 1.3 How Standards Are Used When Practice Is Questioned
    • 1.4 Registration Obligations and Honest Declarations
  2. Section 2: Scope of Practice in Everyday Dentistry4 lessons
    • 2.1 Education, Training and Competence
    • 2.2 Scope Across the Divisions
    • 2.3 Directing and Delegating Within the Team
    • 2.4 Expanding Scope Safely
  3. Section 3: Infection Prevention and Control4 lessons
    • 3.1 The Board's Current Approach
    • 3.2 Precautions, Reprocessing and Traceability
    • 3.3 Blood-Borne Viruses and the Practitioner
    • 3.4 Responding to Infection Control Failures
  4. Section 4: Dental Records4 lessons
    • 4.1 What a Good Dental Record Contains
    • 4.2 Amendments, Retention and Access
    • 4.3 Templates, Digital Systems and Photographs
    • 4.4 Auditing and Improving Your Records
  5. Section 5: CPD, Recency and Maintaining Competence4 lessons
    • 5.1 The Dental CPD Requirements
    • 5.2 Planning CPD That Changes Practice
    • 5.3 Recency of Practice and Returning to Practice
    • 5.4 Keeping a Personal Competence Portfolio
  6. Section 6: Conduct and Accountability in the Dental Workplace4 lessons
    • 6.1 Clinical Independence in Corporate and Employed Practice
    • 6.2 Supervision, Students and Limited Registrants
    • 6.3 Practitioner Health and Mandatory Notifications
    • 6.4 When Things Go Wrong
  7. Final assessment and written reflection15 questions

Assessment and certificate

  1. Work through the course

    Study each section at your own pace, including the case illustrations and apply-it questions.

  2. Pass the assessment

    15 scenario-based questions. You need 12 correct (80%) to pass.

  3. Write your reflection

    A short written reflection on how the learning applies to your own practice.

  4. Download your certificate

    Shows your name, the course, the date and 2 CPD hours. Anyone can check it on our verification page.

What you keep for your CPD records

  • A certificate of completion recording approximately 2 CPD hours of learning
  • Your written reflective account on scope, records and infection control in your own practice
  • A quick-reference professional standards checklist for the dental team
  • A records self-audit method you can repeat each year, plus a simple structure for a personal competence portfolio that makes CPD audits and scope questions easy to answer

How certificates and CPD records workVerify a certificate

Primary sources

The course is built on these official documents. Check them for the current version.

Questions about this course

Does Ahpra or the Dental Board accredit or approve this course?

No. It is independent CPD-aligned education and is not accredited, not approved and not endorsed by Ahpra, the Dental Board or any professional body. You decide whether it fits your CPD plan and record the actual time you spend.

Does this course count as clinically or scientifically based CPD?

That classification is your decision under the Board's CPD guidelines. Some practitioners treat professional standards, infection control and records learning as relevant to clinical practice; others record it as non-scientific CPD. Keep your certificate and reflection either way.

Is this the same as the dental ethics course?

No. The two are designed as a pair. This course covers scope, infection control, records, CPD, recency and accountability. The ethics course covers ethical reasoning about consent, fees, advertising and patient care.

Do hygienists still need a structured relationship with a dentist?

The 2020 scope standard is based on each practitioner's education, training and competence within their division rather than a required structured relationship. Practitioners must still refer when a patient's needs fall outside their scope. The course explains how this works across the divisions.

What infection control guidelines does the Board require now?

The Board no longer prescribes its own guideline. It expects evidence-based processes relevant to your setting and may ask what sources you rely on or inspect your practice. The course outlines the national guidance practices commonly use.

What are the current CPD cycle dates?

The current cycle runs from 1 December 2025 to 30 November 2028, with a minimum of 60 hours. National Boards consulted on revised CPD and recency standards in 2026, so check the Board's website for any changes.

Will this course satisfy a condition on my registration?

Completing this course does not by itself satisfy any condition, undertaking or other Board requirement. If you are subject to one, confirm with Ahpra or the Dental Board, and your lawyer or indemnity insurer, whether a particular course is acceptable before you enrol, and keep your certificate and reflection for your records.

How long does the course take?

About 2 hours including reading, case illustrations, a written reflection and a 15-question scenario-based assessment with an 80% pass mark.