Career paths
Dentists traditionally provide a full range of dental care services to the public in the private, corporate and public sectors, identifying and treating dental diseases as well as providing preventative oral health services to save and protect teeth.
Many dentists start out as an assistant dentist remunerated either by salary or commission before choosing to pursue their dental career either in solo private practice or in partnerships (group practice) with other dentists. There is also a trend for dentists to work in more than one sector within their working week.Â
Dentistry is changing rapidly, creating many opportunities to meet evolving challenges in oral health and the dental sector.         Â
Public sector dental health services
Salaried dentists (including general dentists and specialists), work in community dental or dedicated hospital clinics to provide routine and emergency dental services for eligible children, the elderly, the socio-economically disadvantaged and people with intellectual and physical disabilities receiving specific social service support.
Dentists and dental specialists in the public sector will often work in close collaboration with their medical colleagues, especially when the patient is being treated in a hospital setting or is medically compromised.
Major teaching hospital clinics also provide the opportunity for clinicians to work closely and directly with specialist dental departments.
Public dental clinics in primary and secondary schools aim to ensure that children have the opportunity to reach adulthood with good oral health and to develop the skills to maintain it.Â
Australian defence forces – Army, navy or air force
The Australian Defence Force makes dental care available to its service men and women (and in some circumstances their families) in a variety of locations including as necessary in military dental clinics on ships and bases.
Scholarships are available for dental students who wish to join the defence forces on graduation.
Dental graduates meeting the entry requirements (including physical fitness standards) can be accepted into the defence force reserve with promotion available over time. Â
General Practice
Most dentists work as self-employed practitioners in general practice, or as partners, associates, contractors, or employees in small private practices, group practices or corporate practices.
Sole practitioner
Dentists working as a sole practitioner in their own practice enjoy an unrivalled degree of professional and personal independence, and, many practitioners believe that the freedom to organise their life and schedule (including holidays and days away from the practice) is a significant benefit of sole ownership.
The following are important considerations:
- Income is dependent upon your personal presence in the practice
- Overheads are always applicable even if you are not working at the practice
- You may not have day-to-day contact with professional colleagues
- Management and staff issues are solely your responsibility
- You may potentially have higher overhead costs in relation to patient fees than in an associate or partnership practice
- Income is based solely on the fees you set, less the total costs.
Associate Dentist
Practitioners in this type of practice share some or all of the equipment, rooms, staff and most overheads with other individual Dentists. Individual incomes are not shared. This pooling of resources generally results in cost reductions compared to practising as a sole practitioner.
It may also result in a higher standard of equipment and materials to that which may be affordable to a sole practitioner. Further, there is regular professional contact with colleagues and greater scope to structure hours of work and various forms of leave.
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Having a binding legal agreement in place is important. Such an agreement should cover all aspects of an Associate practice including allocation of individual overheads, expenses, hours of practice, illness and other absences, equipment policy, common insurances, future disposal and options to buy entitlements in the practice. It is also important for one to constantly measure that these are being applied as agreed.
Partnership
In this type of practice, practitioners share all of the equipment, rooms, staff and overheads between the individual Dentists. In this model partners also share the income of the practice on a pre-determined ratio basis.
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A binding legal partnership agreement covering all aspects of the partnership is critical. Issues considered should include valuations, future disposal of the practice or equity shares in the partnership, options to purchase equity, hours of practice, individual partner profit distributions and/or remuneration, tenancy and other entitlements, and common insurances.
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Contractor and Facilities Agreement.
These employment models are complex and not well understood, and legal and accounting advice is recommended to ensure that the arrangements are correctly in place.
Having an employment contract and working as a contractor dentist are not the same, and should not be confused. A work or employment contract will usually apply in all types of employment.
Employee
An employee dentist is employed by a practice for a salary or percentage of earnings arrangement.
In this arrangement the employee dentist works for the practice, treating patients on behalf of the owner of the business.
There are certain employee benefits in this model such as superannuation and leave.
Locum
A locum work arrangement is usually a short-term contractor arrangement.
Traditionally practitioners will travel to a variety of locations, typically filling in for sole practitioners who chose to have a break or filling in need in remote locations that are difficult to staff on a more permanent basis. This sort of arrangement typically suits practitioners who wish to travel either early or late in their careers.
Other roles
There are opportunities for employment in related dental areas such as Health Administration, Industry, Education and Research.
Education sector
Dentists can apply the skills and knowledge from their work experience in teaching the clinical, technical and theoretical aspects of dentistry to students in all the dental sciences across TAFE and university programs. An academic dentistry career combines teaching, research, community service and patient care.Â
Research
Research careers offer opportunities to generate new knowledge and be on the cutting edge of scientific discoveries. Some common research areas in dentistry include dental materials science, mouth physiology, systemic health and oral health and the impact of various preventative and treatment efforts. Research is a component of advanced degrees and can be conducted in the dental laboratory, or hospital or university training program. Many dentist researchers have faculty positions at universities.
Industry – Professional Relations Managers
Dentists can be employed as professional relations managers by product and service companies in the dental industry to communicate brand alliance and corporate directions to dental professionals or the public. This work may involve roles such as guiding decision-making processes by communicating the value of products, programs and services to dental professionals. Dentists are ideal candidates for these positions since they can develop strong relationships with their colleagues and communicate, through first-hand experience, the direct impact that a product or service can have on the dental profession and the public.
Advanced Career Options and Specialisation
There are numerous pathways that allow dentists to undertake further education to advance their dentistry career. Universities in Australia are facilitating postgraduate certificates and diplomas, Masters degrees and Doctorate degrees that allow practitioners to develop advanced clinical skills, undertake dental research, work in the tertiary education sector and/or obtain specialist dentist qualifications.
Specialisation
This type of dental practice concentrates its services in a specialised area of oral health care, for example, periodontics, pedodontics, endodontics, orthodontics, prosthodontics, oral surgery, oral pathology and special needs dentistry. A specialist’s primary purpose is to render a service to patients and the community which requires an expert level of knowledge and skill. A specialist dentist is expected to demonstrate expertise through experience as a general dentist before attaining a higher degree of at least three years’ duration. Click here to access Ahpra’s information on specialist registration
Completion of the Primary Fellowship Examination of the Royal Australasian College of Dental Surgeons (RACDS) or its equivalent is highly desirable
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Postgraduate programmes in Australia are currently being offered by the following universities:
- University of Melbourne – Doctor of clinical dentistry
- University of Queensland – Doctor of clinical dentistry
- University of Sydney – Doctor of clinical dentistry
- University of Western Australia – Doctor of clinical dentistry
Volunteering
International healthcare:Â Australian general and specialist dentists may (with appropriate regional approvals) provide oral health services to populations abroad. During their dental career, many dentists volunteer some time to provide dentistry to people in developing regions, to provide routine services for disadvantaged persons and in urgent circumstances such as in response to natural disasters.
Volunteering
There are many volunteering opportunities in a variety of locations both urban (for established charities), in under-privileged or rural and remote communities both in Australia and overseas. These are usually short-term activities. Although these positions are not paid they can be quite rewarding, and many practitioners have positive experiences.
ADA NSW provides volunteering opportunities through Filling the Gap. Find out more.
