Is your CPD on target?

As most readers will already be aware, the current CPD cycle began on 1 December 2022, concluding this year on 30 November.

The Dental Board of Australia’s Continuing professional development registration standard has been in effect since 1 December 2015 and applies to all dentists, dental specialists, dental hygienists, dental therapists, oral health therapists and dental prosthetists, except those who hold one of the following types of registration:

• non-practising registration
• limited registration in the public interest
• limited registration to sit an examination, or
• student registration.

The many ADA members who have already attended Congress in the past – such as the FDI World Dental Congress in 2023 (FDIWDC23) – will know how substantial this experience can be in terms of real learnings, as well as CPD hours in your logbook. This year’s Australian Dental Congress (ADC2025) is perfect timing, happening in May and offering 50+ hours of possible CPD content.

The Dental Board of Australia

Dr Simon Shanahan, Chair of the Dental Board of Australia (DBA), explains the CPD cycle from the Board’s point of view. “Dental practice is constantly evolving, incorporating new technologies and approaches to improve patient care.

“Maintaining a high level of professional competence is essential for safe, high-quality patient care. CPD is how dental practitioners make sure they have the personal and professional qualities they need throughout their careers and helps them to stay up to date as science, technology and society all change.”

The Dental Education & Training committee

Dr Andrew Gikas, Chair of the ADA’s Dental Education & Training Committee (DETC) agrees with Dr Shanahan and emphasises that that it’s never too late to make your CPD efforts impactful and rewarding.

“CPD plays a critical role in ensuring dental professionals stay updated with advancements in techniques, technologies, and patient care standards,” says Dr Gikas. “I encourage practitioners to approach their CPD intake strategically, focusing on areas that align with their professional goals and areas of interest. By selecting high-quality courses, attending conferences, participating in workshops, and engaging in peer discussions, dental professionals can not only meet their mandatory CPD requirements but also enhance their clinical skills and knowledge base.

“It’s of particular importance to include both planning and reflection. We advise practitioners to take the time to evaluate their learning needs and explore opportunities that offer long-term benefits to their careers and patients alike.”

Your CPD obligations in a nutshell

• As a practitioner within the profession of dentistry, one of the obligations of your registration is compliance with the Dental Board of Australia’s CPD requirements. In its simplest form, this means completing 60 hours of CPD over a three-year cycle.

• If you commence practising at any point during a cycle, you will be expected to complete a pro rata number of hours to be compliant.

• In the event you are randomly audited by the Dental Board of Australia (DBA), you will be required to provide evidence you have met your CPD obligations. It could also be requested at any time in the future should you undertake any other audit by the DBA or should there ever be an investigation into a complaint against you. This is why it is so important to accurately record your activities, and indeed you are expected to keep a manual or electronic logbook. The ADA CPD Log is designed for this purpose to simplify the process for members. However, you record your hours and learnings, ensure you are including:

– Your name
– CPD provider’s name
– CPD activity name
– Date, time and location of the activity
– Number of CPD hours accrued
– Whether the activity is scientific
or non-scientific.

• Your CPD log must be accompanied by a certificate of attendance or an end-of-year summary from your provider. Any activities undertaken on the ADA’s CPD Portal will be automatically recorded via your personal onsite log, to which you can also manually add any external events or activities.

• The activities you undertake can be a mix of scientific and non-scientific subject matter. However, at least 80% of those activities (in other words, 48 hours) should be scientifically or clinically based such as
learning about new endodontic procedures, crown preparations, and caries treatments. The remaining 20% (translating to 12 hours) can be non-scientific in nature, such as studying practice management or dento-legal responsibilities. They cannot, however, be related to personal learning around finance or wealth management. It is permissible for 100% of your CPD learning to be made up of clinical or scientific activities.

What happens if you are audited?

Don’t panic; random audits are an essential and everyday part of the CPD and registration structure, Dr Shanahan points out.

“The Board knows that the majority of dental practitioners meet their professional obligations and requirement of registration by completing their annual CPD requirements,” he says. “We carry out audits to maintain the CPD system’s integrity, so the community can continue to have a high level of trust in their dental practitioners.”

In fact, Ahpra has developed a consistent approach to audits with the national Boards of all areas of healthcare, auditing practitioners’ compliance with mandatory standards in each area of practice to best protect the public and ensure full community confidence in its health practitioners.

Random samples of practitioners from all health professions are collected for audit regularly through the year.
 
The DBA website instructs: “If you are selected for audit, you will receive an audit notice in the mail from Ahpra. It includes a checklist that outlines what supporting documentation is required to demonstrate that you meet the standard(s) being audited.

“Each time you apply to renew your registration; you make a declaration that you have (or have not) met the registration standards for your profession. The audit requires that you provide further information to support your declarations.

“Your audit notice letter will identify which standard/ standards are being audited.”

One or more of four mandatory registration standards may be audited:

• Criminal history standard: Ahpra uses an independent service provider to check your domestic criminal history, which will happen automatically at no cost to you. You do not have to do anything further unless you are asked to provide more information.

• Continuing professional development registration standard: You must provide evidence of the CPD activities you have undertaken to meet the requirements of the Board’s standard, whether you have used the ADA’s CPD Log or another recording method.

• Recency of practice registration standard: You must provide evidence of recency of practice activities you have undertaken which meet the requirements of the Board’s standard.

• Professional indemnity insurance registration standard: You must provide evidence of PII arrangements which meet the requirements of the Board’s PII registration standard.

As a reminder, every time you apply to renew your registration, you make a declaration confirming that you have met the requirements of each of the four standards above. It is up to you to disclose any change, and to record all activities (such as CPD) so that any audit of these can proceed smoothly.

How about practitioners other than dentists?

As long as you are fully registered to practise (in other words, you don’t hold non-practising, limited or student registration), you will be completing the same CPD cycle this year.

The DBA reminds practitioners such as dental hygienists, dental therapists and oral health therapists that your scope of practice – as always – depends on your education, qualifications, training, experience, and competence. When considering applicable CPD activities, you should assess these factors as your individual scope of practice depends not only on your division, but also on these.

It may vary from other practitioners in the same division and may be more limited than the division’s overall scope. For example, you will be unable to perform some treatments if you have not done relevant training. Just as you must only perform dental treatments that you have been educated and trained in, and that you are competent in, you are responsible for assessing your expertise as it pertains to CPD.

The great news is the benefits of doing CPD include not only maintaining and improving your skills and experience, but broadening your scope of practice within your division.

Please note, though, that CPD will not let you move from one division to another. Dental hygienists, dental prosthetists, dental therapists and oral health therapists cannot become dentists simply by completing CPD courses.