Circular on Supervision of Oral Health Therapists

To all Employers

SUPERVISION OF ORAL HEALTH THERAPISTS (OHTs)

It has been brought to the attention of the Council that some OHTs under Part II of the register have not been receiving the necessary supervision.

Kindly note that section 21A(1)(ii) of the Dental Registration Act requires OHTs registered under Part II of the register to be supervised by a Division 1 dentist working in the same practice for a specified period (at least 5 years).

As an employer of OHTs under Part II of the register, please ensure that your supervisee(s) are being supervised at work at all times.

In the event that the assigned supervisor is unavailable to oversee the work of a supervisee for 30 days or more, the clinic must nominate another Division 1 dentist to supervise the OHT. Approval must be sought from Council for the replacement.

If the assigned supervisor is away for less than a month, the clinic should ensure that another fully registered Division I dentist is present to provide the needed supervision.

In the event that the nominated supervisor is no longer with your organisation, we would appreciate if you could notify the Council and re-nominate another supervisor for the OHT(s) under Part II of register.

Information on the roles and responsibilities of employers, supervisors and Director/Heads of Department are attached for your reference.

Circular for Supervision of Oral Health Therapists [PDF, 99KB] ↗ (opens in new tab)