The Dental Board of Australia (the Board) has published its quarterly data report for the second quarter of this year, painting a fascinating facts-and-figures picture of the profession.
During the period 1 April to 30 June 2019, an additional 101 dental practitioners registering, pushing the total number of registrants overall to 23,730, of which 17,727 were dentists.
Gender-wise, dental practitioners nationally were 51.8% female (12,304) and 48.2% male (11,426) with 494 women and 1,274 men holding specialist registration.
If you're wondering where your colleagues and fellow dental practitioners, practise their profession, the statistics reveal that, not unexpectedly, that the majority of registrants are based in either NSW or Victoria (29.2% and 23.33% respectively) with the next largest groups practising in Queensland, WA and SA respectively (20.21%, 11.54% and 8.26%).
The statistics aren't simply interesting in and of themselves.
They play a key role in informing the functions of the Board which include:
- registering dentists, students, dental specialists, dental therapists, dental hygienists, oral health therapists and dental prosthetists
- developing standards, codes and guidelines for the dental profession
- handling notifications, complaints, investigations and disciplinary hearings
- overseeing the assessment of overseas trained practitioners who wish to practise in Australia, and
- approving accreditation standards and accredited courses of study.
For the full report on registrant statistics, please go to Dental Board of Australia - Statistics
