Review of the entry-level competencies for dental specialties

23rd Sep 2026

Ahpra and the Dental Board of Australia (DBA) are collaborating with the Dental Council New Zealand (DC(NZ)) to review the Entry level competencies for dental specialties. The competencies describe the level of competence expected of applicants for registration in a specialty with the DBA and DC(NZ) and were last reviewed in 2016.

We are pleased to announce that the ADC has been appointed to deliver the review of the competencies over the coming year. Planning for the review is
well underway, which will consider the competencies for specialties including:

endodontics
oral and maxillofacial surgery
oral medicine
oral pathology
oral surgery
orthodontics
paediatric dentistry
periodontics
prosthodontics
public health dentistry (community dentistry)
special needs dentistry
dento-maxillofacial radiology (Australia only)
forensic odontology (Australia only)
restorative dentistry (New Zealand only).

In the coming months, the ADC plans to engage extensively with stakeholders to identify focus areas for the review. We look forward to sharing further details soon.