ADAVB opposes independent practice by auxiliaries

Responding to the Dental Practice Board of Victoria's draft code of practice on the Practice of Dentistry by Dental Auxiliaries, the ADAVB has described the code as unworkable and warned that members will be advised not to enter into an agreement to consult for auxiliaries unless they are in an employment relationship with them.

The draft code allows auxiliaries to practice independently. Once implemented, Victoria will be the only State in Australia that allows this.

The ADAVB submission and its attached legal advice assert that the draft Code:
• fundamentally changes the relationship between the dentist and auxiliary
• will destroy the dental team which it seeks to promote
• allows and promotes independent practice rights for dental therapists and dental hygienists, and that we believe this will lead to a reduction in the standard of care provided to the community and increased professional indemnity insurance costs
• proposes a mechanism by which dentists would be held accountable for treatment outcomes achieved by auxiliaries, but that this mechanism is not defined, and therefore would be legally invalid once challenged
• sets out to offer guidance on standards of practice but leaves the question of what dental auxiliaries can or can’t do almost entirely up to them or to educational institutions
• has the potential to result in supervised neglect of patients by not requiring that they undergo a regular and comprehensive examination by a dentist and encouraging dental therapists and hygienists to consider themselves the primary dental care providers
• allows and encourages educational institutions to determine the duties of auxiliaries leading to them becoming indistinguishable from dentists

The full submission can be viewed here.