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Final reports and announcement about Health Ministers’ reviews in relation to the National Scheme.
On 16 August 2024, Health Ministers referred the use of the dental specialist title ‘oral surgeon’ to the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra) for consideration and advice, to ensure patients and consumers have a clear understanding of the skills and qualifications of the practitioners providing them care. To inform timely advice to Health Ministers, Ahpra appointed an independent reviewer to carry out a rapid review of the use of the title ‘oral surgeon’. The reviewer undertook targeted consultation with key stakeholders and produced a report on the review.
The review found that there was ‘insufficient reliable and independently assessed evidence to indicate that the use of the title ’oral surgeon’ has caused serious harm to the public or led to a substantial loss of public confidence in the safety of services provided by oral surgeons.’
The review recommended a comprehensive public consultation on all dental specialist titles, including the title oral surgeon. The Dental Board of Australia has accepted this recommendation and will carry out a review of specialist titles in 2025-26.
Documents on this website have been made available in compliance with the National Law and also in the interest of transparency. Wherever possible, Ahpra provides web content in accessible formats. However, if documents have been provided by other parties, accessible format files may not always be available or approved for use. If you have difficulty accessing a document, please contact Ahpra and we will attempt to provide you with an accessible version. Ahpra asks third party organisations to provide, where possible, documents in accessible formats. We will update documents on this website when accessible versions become available.