Oral health and dental care in Australia

All dental practitioners must be registered with the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA) to practise in Australia. There is a range of different types of registration to match different levels of training and experience. Most dental practitioners have general registration. General registration divisions include dentists, dental prosthetists, dental hygienists, oral health therapists and dental therapists. Dentists may also qualify and be eligible for specialist registration. There are 13 approved dental specialities in Australia (Dental Board of Australia 2018). 

Data presented in this section were sourced from the National Health Workforce Dataset (NHWDS).

Size and distribution of the dental workforce

Data on the size and distribution of the dental workforce is required to understand the current dental workforce and its capacity to meet the community’s needs for prevention and treatment of oral disease.

• The number of registered dentists in Australia increased from around 15,800 in 2014 to around 20,300 in 2023. 
• Close to 9 in 10 dental practitioners registered in 2023 were employed in their field.
• The proportion of dentists employed in their field has remained relatively stable, ranging from 90% in 2014 to 91% in 2023.

Explore the data using the Dental workforce interactive 1 below.

Dental workforce interactive 1: Dental practitioners registered and employed

In 2023:

• Across jurisdictions, the Australian Capital Territory had the highest FTE rate of dentists per 100,000 population (68.7), Tasmania had the highest FTE rate of dental prosthetists (6.6), South Australia had the highest FTE rate of dental hygienists (12.3) and oral health therapists (13.0) and Western Australia had the highest FTE rate of dental therapists (5.0).
• Across remoteness areas, Major cities had the highest FTE rate of dentists (68.3), dental hygienists (4.3) and oral health therapists (10.0). Inner regional areas had the highest FTE rate of dental prosthetists (5.2) and Outer regional areas had the highest FTE rate of dental therapists (2.5).
• The FTE rate of dentists ranged from 34.2 in the Northern Territory to 68.7 in the Australian Capital Territory.
• The FTE rate of dentists ranged from 21.4 in Remote and very remote areas to 68.3 in Major cities.

Over time:

• The FTE rate of dentists in Australia ranged from 56.5 per 100,000 population in 2014 to 61.1 in 2023.
• The FTE rate of oral health therapists in Australia has steadily increased from 4.0 in 2014 to 9.0 in 2023.

Explore the data using the Dental workforce interactive 2 below.

Dental workforce interactive 2: Full time equivalent dental practitioners per 100,000 population, states and territories

In 2023, the Australian Capital Territory had the highest FTE rate of dentists employed in the private sector (56.7 per 100,000 population) whilst the Northern Territory had the lowest (23.1 per 100,000 population). Victoria had the lowest FTE rate of dentists employed in the public sector (4.2 per 100,000 population) whilst the Northern Territory had the highest (10.9 per 100,000 population). 

Explore the data using the Dental workforce interactive 3 below.

Dental workforce interactive 3: Full time equivalent dentists per 100,000 population employed in the public and private sectors, states and territories

Characteristics of employed dentists

Data presented in this section focuses on the characteristics of dentists employed in Australia.

In 2023:

• 1 in 2 employed dentists worked part-time (50%).
• Nearly half were female (48%).
• Around 1 in 4 employed dentists obtained their initial qualification in countries other than Australia and New Zealand (27%).

Explore the data using the Dental workforce interactive 4 below.

Dental workforce interactive 4: Proportion of employed dentists, by selected characteristics

• In 2023, the majority of dentists worked in group private practices (around 10,000) or solo private practices (around 4,900) — accounting for about 84% of all employed dentists in Australia. 
• In 2023, around 800 (4.6%) dentists worked in public clinics in Australia.

Explore the data using the Dental workforce interactive 5 below.

Dental workforce interactive 5: Number of dentists by main employment setting, states and territories

Dental specialists

There are 13 approved dental specialties in Australia. All specialists must hold a qualification in the specialty and meet all the requirements for general registration as a dentist (Dental Board of Australia 2018).

In 2023:

• The largest group of dental specialists in Australia were orthodontists (572), equivalent to around one-third (34%) of all dental specialists.
• Around 2 in 3 (68%) dental specialists in Australia were male.

Explore the data using the Dental workforce interactive 6 below:

Dental workforce interactive 6: Number of dental specialists employed by area of specialty