The Dental Board of Australia (DBA) describes the Australian standard for dental record keeping in the Code of Conduct. Please refer particularly to section 8.4 on Health Records which describes the guiding principles which must be applied (the Standard). 

The Code of Conduct is supported by the following key explanatory documents:

• Dental Board of Australia: Factsheet - Maintaining your patient health records
• Dental Board of Australia: Self-reflective tool - Good record keeping 

The collection, use and disposal of personal information (dental records) is governed by the Australian Privacy Principles (the APP’s) under the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth). The APP’s are described in ADA Inc Policy 5.17 with additional detail available on the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) website. To access a comprehensive suite of information, templates and privacy resources, please click on the link to ADA NSW's Privacy Kit located in the table below.

To locate a course proceed to the ADA NSW CPD website and perform a search using the search term word “records”. ADA NSW regularly runs a course titled Dental Records, Consent and Complaints Management. If you are interested in attending but the course is booked out please join the waiting list. 

Other reputable courses are run by Sydney University, Faculty of Dentistry.

ADA NSW runs an Online Dental Records and Consent course. It takes an hour or two to complete and a certificate of completion is provided. You will need to log in using your username (ADA NSW member number) and password. A course fee of $330 is applicable. 

The ADA Inc CPD Portal offers a wealth of material including webinars, lectures, videos and audio recordings. As well as learning about dental record keeping, you will also find content relating to diagnosis, treatment planning and clinical treatment which may be of interest.  

Default Login details:
Username = ADA Inc. Member Number
Password = ADA Inc. Member Number followed by initials in lower case

In particular, we recommend Dr Milford’s free course 'Record Keeping: Essential knowledge to avoid pitfalls'. (References the now-retired DBA Guidelines on Dental Recordkeeping. However, the expectations in the new Reflective Tool are substantially the same).

The ADA NSW Library is the repository of numerous Australian and International journals, magazines and professional publications. To conduct a literature search, you could either visit the library personally, search the database online or phone (02) 8436 9900 to request guidance and assistance.

Journal articles can also be accessed on the ADA Inc website via the National Digital Library.

The Dental Council of NSW (DC) commonly assess practitioner records using an audit checklist. Information on the Council’s inspection/audit process is available on the Dental Council of NSW's website.

You may wish to perform an audit of your own records to ensure you are meeting the standard required. There are a number of excellent dental record audit tools available to assist you – please access these via the table below.