The Australian Dental Council oversees the accreditation of education and training programs for dentists in Australia.

Becoming a dentist in Australia involves being competent in six main areas, which are summarised here:

1. Professionalism – your personal values, attitudes and behaviours, and includes things such as practising evidence-based dentistry in a way that involves patient-centred care
2. Communication and leadership – your interpersonal skills and the ability to communicate with and work cooperatively with a range of people
3. Critical thinking – applying your knowledge to identify and solve real-life problems; it includes performing and/or interpreting diagnostic tests, using clinical reasoning and judgement and formulating a treatment plan which integrates your expertise and takes into account the patient’s views
4. Health Promotion – enabling individuals to be responsible for their own oral health – you need to be able to promote the principles of oral health and disease prevention
5. Scientific and Clinical Knowledge – applying biological, medical, technical and clinical knowledge to recognise the difference between normal and abnormal conditions; it includes selecting the least invasive therapy necessary and prescribing medications as appropriate
6. Patient Care – gathering information, diagnosing, treating and evaluating the treatment

The Australian Dental Council’s full document, Professional Competencies of the newly qualified dentist is available here.