National Oral Health Plan 2015–2024: performance monitoring report

Full time equivalent (FTE) rates of registered clinically active dental practitioners per 100,000 population

Numerator
Full time equivalent (FTE) number of dental practitioners registered with the Dental Board of Australia (DBA), in conjunction with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA), to practice in the dental profession whose principal role in their main job was clinician

FTE = The total number of self-reported weekly hours worked by employed dental practitioners in dentistry/oral health jobs divided by the standard working week hours (38 hours)

Denominator
The total number of people in the estimated resident Australian population X 100,000

High

Department of Health
Australian Government Department of Health—Health workforce data. This combines National Registration and Accreditation Scheme (NRAS) data with the Dental Workforce Survey conducted at the time of annual registration or renewal of registration administered by the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

ABS
Australian Bureau of Statistics estimated resident population data as at 30 June for respective report period.

Registration type
Numerator includes all registration types:
General
General and specialist
Limited
Specialist
Non-practicing (only where clinically active at time of Dental Workforce Survey)

Practitioner type
Numerator includes practitioner types:
Dentist (including dental specialists)
Oral health therapists
Dental hygienists
Dental therapists
Dental prosthetists

Remoteness category⁽¹⁾
Reporting by geographic distribution of the dental workforce will apply the remoteness area categories from the Australian Statistical Geography Standard (ASGS). Using postcode of principal practice (if unavailable, remoteness area of residence is used), a dental practitioner is allocated to one of the following:
Major city
Inner regional
Outer regional
Remote/very remote/migratory (combined due to small numbers)

Practitioner type
Numerator excludes non registered members of the oral health workforce:
Dental assistants
Dental technicians

Principal role
Practitioners whose principal role in their main job was not a clinician (e.g. administrator, teacher, educator or researcher) are excluded.