Registration as a dental technician under the Dental Technicians Registration Act 1975

Section 15 of the Dental Technicians Registration Act provides that persons who prove to the satisfaction of the Board that they are of good character and aged 18 years or over may be entitled to be registered if:-

1(a) they have, in the opinion of the Board, satisfactorily completed an approved course of training in technical work; or
1(c) they have, in the opinion of the Board, satisfactorily completed any examination in technical work arranged by the Board for the purpose of determining their knowledge of and skill in carrying out technical work and demonstrated their ability satisfactorily to carry out technical work in New South Wales.

Approved courses of training under section 15(1)(a)

The Board has approved the following courses under section 15(1)(a) of the Act, subject to successful completion by applicants of 3500 hours paid supervised practice and an examination for registration, conducted or approved by the Board.

Course	Awarding authority	Notes
Diploma of Dental Technology	Sydney Institute of TAFE, Sydney, New South Wales
Diploma of Dental Technology	Southbank Institute of TAFE, Brisbane, Queensland	2006 onwards
Bachelor of Oral Health in Dental Technology	Griffith University, Queensland	2006 onwards
Diploma of Dental Technology	Torrens Valley TAFE, Adelaide, South Australia	2006 onwards
Diploma of Dental Technology	RMIT University, Melbourne, Victoria	2006 onwards
Diploma of Dental Technology	Australian Defence Force Dental School	2006 onwards
Bachelor of Dental Technology	University of Otago, New Zealand	2006 onwards

^*The Board has approved the examination conducted by the Sydney Institute of TAFE, effective from November 2004.

^**The Board has approved the examinations conducted by the interstate and Defence Forces training institutions and the University of Otago, New Zealand, effective from December 2006 onwards.

Examination for registration under section 15(1)(c).

Overseas-trained applicants who apply for registration in Australia or New Zealand are required to undertake an examination conducted by the Council of Regulating Authorities for Dental Technicians and Dental Prosthetists Australia and New Zealand Inc (CORA). The examination will be held twice yearly, (Jan/Feb and July), and the examination centre will rotate between Otago (New Zealand), Sydney and Brisbane. An examination fee of $1,500 applies.

The examination will consist of three parts, conducted over five days:

• a theoretical (written) examination on day 1, covering:
  

  removable acrylic dentures
  fixed partial dentures
  orthodontics
  cast removable partial structures
  infection control and occupational health & safety

• a practical examination over the following three days, covering:
  

  removable acrylic dentures
  fixed partial dentures
  orthodontics
  metal partial
  complete removable denture

• a viva voce examination on the fifth day, consisting of a discussion about the work undertaken during the theoretical and practical examinations.

Candidates will be expected to demonstrate competency in all aspects of the theoretical and practical examinations.

Application Procedures

An application for registration in Portable Document File (PDF) format may be downloaded from this web-site. The documentary requirements, which must accompany the application, are outlined in the form.

Applicants will be invited to attend an interview with a committee of the Board on the day of a Board meeting (usually the fourth Thursday of each month). The committee will provide the applicants with a thorough overview of the examination procedures and inform them whether they have met the eligibility criteria and are deemed suitable to sit the examination. The examination will be conducted in English, and applicants who trained overseas in a language other than English are required to provide evidence from IELTS of having gained a minimum Academic band score of 6 in each skill. IELTS testing centres are located in various countries (see: www.IELTS.org/) and in Sydney at the following institutions: Macquarie University, University of Sydney and the University of Technology, Sydney.

The examination fee of $1,500 must be paid at least one month before the examination. That fee is in addition to the $120 registration application fee, which must accompany the application form.

Candidates who pass the examination will be issued certificates of registration by the Board.

Candidates who fail the examination will have a right of appeal as well as an opportunity to resit the failed exercise, providing the candidate failed only one exercise.

Applicants for registration are not permitted to work in New South Wales until the Board has granted them registration. Working whilst unregistered is an offence under section 26(1) of the Dental Technicians Registration Act 1975, and a conviction can carry a fine of up to $5,500.00. Any person who employs an unregistered person is also guilty of an offence under the same section, carrying the same penalty.

The application in Portable Document File (PDF) format may be downloaded using Acrobat Reader software. If you already have Acrobat Reader software installed on your computer, select the following "PDF" icon.  After the document appears on your screen, you may then print it out by selecting "File" then "Print". If you do not have Acrobat Reader software, see "Get Acrobat" icon below.
	Download information concerning registration [16 pages]
	Download Acrobat Reader

Back to Top