Dental Council notification · Written to Standards Framework for Oral Health Practitioners

Professionalism and Professional Standards for Dentists for Dentists and oral health practitioners facing a Dental Council investigation, complaint or allegation

The allegation concerns your professionalism, behaviour or conduct as a dentist or oral health practitioner.

Communication — a nervous patient spoken to sharply, or not heard
Dishonesty — a note added later, a false claim or APC declaration
Fees — an estimate that did not match the invoice
Boundaries — a boundaries breach with a patient or a colleague
Advertising — misleading claims, or photos posted without consent
Scope — work beyond your scope, training or conditions
The team — conduct towards staff, colleagues or the laboratory
Any other — professional concern or allegation of unprofessional conduct

Facing an allegation of unprofessional behaviour or misconduct like these — from the Dental Council, a Professional Conduct Committee or the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal?

Help with a Dental Council investigation, complaint or allegation starts here. This CPD course helps you remediate — and demonstrate the remediation, with a dated certificate for your written response, your portfolio or a Committee or Tribunal direction.

Buy this course — NZ$200 Bulk buy — any five or ten courses

Immediate access · certificate on completion · twelve months' access

2 CPD hours
Self-paced
Written for New Zealand
CPD certificate
Bulk buy: any 5 for NZ$850 · any 10 for NZ$1,400

At a glance

Who it is for: Any oral health practitioner facing a Dental Council notification, complaint or allegation, a Professional Conduct Committee investigation or a competence review about professional behaviour or conduct — an allegation of unprofessional behaviour or conduct
Authorities covered: The Dental Council, its Professional Conduct Committees and the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal
Length: 10 sections, 62 lessons, 2 CPD hours
Format: Self-paced, online, immediate access, twelve months from purchase
Certificate: Issued by Healthcare Ethics Courses on completion, dated, with the course title and 2 CPD hours
Price: NZ$200 · any 5 for NZ$850 · any 10 for NZ$1,400

Certificate issued by Healthcare Ethics CoursesRemediation courses for regulatory processes.

2CPD hours, issued by Healthcare Ethics Courses

10Sections, nine closing with a reflective quiz

60Lessons, plus a post-course assessment

NZ$200One off. Twelve months' access

Who this course is for

Facing an allegation of unprofessional behaviour or conduct

The Council’s letter says a remark in the chair, a tone at reception, the way a fee dispute was handled or a shortcut fell short of the Standards Framework. This course is how you account for it — and show you have remediated.

Dealing with a Dental Council notification or complaint

A patient — by far the most common source — a colleague, the practice owner, the HDC or ACC has raised a concern, and the Registrar has asked for your comment. Many professionalism matters are decided on it; this course gives it the structure the Council reads for.

A professional advisor is visiting, or a competence review has been ordered

The competence route starts with your comment and usually a practice visit; a Competence Review Committee then looks at clinical management, records, prescribing and communication. A dated certificate and a reflective account are evidence a committee or a recertification programme can record.

Under investigation by a Professional Conduct Committee

Two registered practitioners and a layperson have the file and want your comment and usually a meeting. They read for the difference between an account and a defence — and for dated, targeted remediation alongside your reflection.

Facing a misconduct charge or hearing before the Tribunal

A charge of professional misconduct has been laid, or a penalty is being decided. Remediation completed before the hearing — dated, documented — is weighed every time.

Expecting a complaint to reach the Council

A complaint to the practice, the Health and Disability Commissioner or ACC can become a Dental Council notification — and the HDC refers a growing share of them. Remediation done now is documented before it does.

The concerns this course speaks to

Communication and respect

A frightened patient dismissed or spoken to sharply, a treatment plan delivered without the alternatives, a complaint at the desk met with irritation. Communicating effectively is one of the Framework’s five principles, and inappropriate communication is a recurring theme in the Council’s conduct cases.

Probity and an allegation of dishonesty

A note added after the complaint and presented as contemporaneous, a radiograph recorded that was not taken, an ACC or insurance claim that does not match the treatment, false information on an APC application. The Council treats dishonesty and overclaiming as misconduct whatever the clinical outcome.

Fees, estimates and financial transparency

A global fee quoted and charges added later, a treatment plan whose cost was never written down, a cosmetic procedure recommended because of what it earns. Dentistry is paid for at the chair more than any other health profession, and the Framework expects transparent fees and informed financial consent.

Professional and ethical boundaries

Personal messages with a patient on social media, a friendship that outgrew the professional relationship, a relationship that began in the surgery, a technician and a client. The Council’s practice standard on professional boundaries places the responsibility with the practitioner.

Advertising, photographs and the digital record

Before-and-after photographs posted without written consent, advertising that promises what it cannot, a video consultation from a shared office, a case online a patient can recognise. Misleading advertising is a recurring Committee theme, and the Council judges online conduct as professional conduct.

Scope, competence and conditions

Work beyond your scope, an advanced procedure with little training behind it, a condition on your practice not kept, recertification requirements not met. The Council is looking more closely at advanced work done with limited professional development, and breaching a condition is a ground of discipline.

The team, the laboratory and conflicts of interest

A technician who ignores the treating dentist’s request, a hygienist undermined in front of a patient, a whitening line recommended because its maker sponsors your seminars. The Framework expects respectful teamwork and declared interests.

Cultural safety and any other concern

Whānau discouraged from the surgery to save space, a request for karakia brushed aside, infection control or a practice standard not followed. Any allegation of unprofessional behaviour or conduct is measured against a principle or standard of the Framework — the course shows you how to find it and answer it.

Facing a Dental Council investigation, complaint or allegation? This course helps you remediate — and demonstrate it.

Buy this course — NZ$200

What the course covers

Ten sections and 62 lessons, with a reflective quiz closing each of the first nine and a post-course assessment at the end.

Section 01

Introduction — Why Professionalism Matters in New Zealand Dentistry

Six lessons

Section 02

Core Attributes of Professionalism

Nine lessons

Section 03

Regulator Perspectives — Dental Council of New Zealand Standards

Seven lessons

Section 04

Common Lapses in Professionalism and Their Consequences

Seven lessons

Section 05

Reflection, Insight, and Remediation in Professionalism Cases

Five lessons

Section 06

Weak vs Strong Demonstrations of Professionalism

Seven lessons

Section 07

Case Studies — Professionalism Across Dental Practice Contexts in New Zealand

Eight lessons

Section 08

Professionalism in Communication, Documentation, and Digital Practice

Four lessons

Section 09

Embedding Professionalism into Identity, Cultural Safety, and Resilience

Seven lessons

Section 10

Conclusion and Key Takeaways

Key takeaways and the post-course assessment

Show every lesson title

Section 01 · Introduction — Why Professionalism Matters in New Zealand Dentistry: What Professionalism Means in Dental Practice; Why Professionalism Matters for Patients and Whānau; Why Professionalism Matters for Regulators and the Profession; Professionalism as Part of Professional Identity; Consequences of Professional Lapses; Professionalism in Modern Dental Practice.
Section 02 · Core Attributes of Professionalism: Honesty and Integrity; Accountability; Respect and Dignity; Clinical Competence; Professional Boundaries; Communication and Collaboration; Cultural Safety and Te Tiriti Partnership; Reflection and Insight; Resilience and Professional Identity.
Section 03 · Regulator Perspectives — Dental Council of New Zealand Standards: The Role of the Dental Council of New Zealand; The DCNZ Standards Framework; The Ethical Principles and the Practice Standards; Fitness to Practise and Professional Misconduct; Cultural Safety and Te Tiriti o Waitangi; Reflection, Insight, and Remediation; Shared Themes Across DCNZ Guidance.
Section 04 · Common Lapses in Professionalism and Their Consequences: Dishonesty and Lack of Probity; Poor Communication and Disrespect; Boundary Violations; Failure to Maintain Competence; Conflicts of Interest; Digital and Social-Media Misconduct; Consequences of Professional Lapses.
Section 05 · Reflection, Insight, and Remediation in Professionalism Cases: Reflection — Honest Self-Examination; Insight — Recognising Seriousness and Impact; Remediation — Taking Corrective Action; Weak vs Strong Responses in DCNZ Proceedings; Integration of Reflection, Insight, and Remediation.
Section 06 · Weak vs Strong Demonstrations of Professionalism: Record Falsification; Informed-Consent Failure; Boundary Concern; Disrespectful Communication; Conflict of Interest; Digital Professionalism Breach; Lessons Across Cases.
Section 07 · Case Studies — Professionalism Across Dental Practice Contexts in New Zealand: General Dental Practice — Informed Consent; Hygiene Clinic — Confidentiality Breach; Community Clinic — Cultural Safety; Orthodontic Practice — Financial Transparency; Laboratory Setting — Team Communication; Tele-Dentistry — Digital Professionalism; Academic or Teaching Context — Research Integrity; Lessons Across All Contexts.
Section 08 · Professionalism in Communication, Documentation, and Digital Practice: Professional Communication; Professional Documentation; Digital Professionalism; Integrating Communication, Documentation, and Digital Practice.
Section 09 · Embedding Professionalism into Identity, Cultural Safety, and Resilience: Professionalism as Identity; Daily Habits That Reinforce Professionalism; Cultural Safety and Te Tiriti Partnership; Reflection and Accountability as Ongoing Practice; Building Resilience to Maintain Professionalism; Mentorship and Role Modelling; Sustaining Professionalism Across a Career.
Section 10 · Conclusion and Key Takeaways: Conclusion; Key Takeaways.

How to respond to a Dental Council notification, complaint or allegation

The Registrar, a professional advisor, a Professional Conduct Committee and the Health Practitioners Disciplinary Tribunal all read the same comment. It has to do four things, and the course teaches each one.

Your first reader has run a practice: the pressure of the list is understood without being described.

What happenedThe events in order, plainly, without the schedule as an excuse.Weak and strong comments on the same events show the tone that works.
Which principle or standardThe part of the Framework the conduct fell short of — one of its five principles or a practice standard — named by you before the Council names it.The course takes the Framework’s principles and practice standards as behaviour, so you can name the one that applies.
The effectWhat the conduct meant for the patient and, where it applies, the team, in their terms rather than yours.Reflection and insight are defined and evidenced in a section of their own.
What has changedDated evidence that someone other than you can check, and what will be different next time.This course is the dated item you attach — and it tells you how to build the rest.

Apologise for the conduct, not for the complaint — and never offer a refund in place of an explanation.

Take advice from your indemnity insurer, your union or a lawyer before you respond to anyone.

Facing a Dental Council investigation, complaint or allegation? This course helps you remediate — and demonstrate it.

Buy this course — NZ$200

How this course helps with a Dental Council investigation

The Council asks whether patients can trust you next week, and reads your response for the answer

The Council’s purpose is public safety, so it asks whether the practitioner will behave differently, and answers from three things: reflection specific to the event, insight that accepts the seriousness without qualification, and remediation someone else can verify. Paired weak and strong responses — the altered record, the consent not taken, the messages, the sharp remark, the sponsored product, the photographs — and case studies from general practice, hygiene, orthodontics, the laboratory and tele-dentistry make the difference visible before you write.

Remediation a Committee or a recertification programme can verify

This course records two dated CPD hours on the standard itself. It also sets out the rest of a dental remediation portfolio: a mentor’s or peer’s reports; an audit of records, consent documentation or fee estimates repeated after an interval; patient feedback gathered on purpose; Māori-led cultural safety education where it is engaged; and reflection that cites the Framework. For the stages from the first letter to the Tribunal, see the Council investigation process, explained.

Read the primary sources

Who wrote it

Dr Shehzad Iqbal

Course author and facilitator, Healthcare Ethics New Zealand

Dr Iqbal has designed and delivered ethics, probity and professionalism training for healthcare professionals since 2020, working with registrants across regulated health professions, online and face to face. He combines clinical practice with formal postgraduate training in healthcare law and ethics.

MBBS · MRCS · MRCGP · Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Law and Ethics, University of Dundee

Written and reviewed by Dr Shehzad Iqbal. Last reviewed September 2026.

In short

Professionalism and Professional Standards for Dentists is a two-hour, self-paced remediation course for every oral health practitioner registered with the Dental Council of New Zealand facing a notification, investigation, complaint or allegation, written to the Council’s Standards Framework. It sets out what the Council means by professionalism — five ethical principles, the professional and practice standards — the lapses notifications about dental professionals often describe — communication, honesty in records and claims, boundaries, fees and financial transparency, consent, online conduct, team and conflicts of interest, cultural safety — and what a credible response to a notification, a competence review, a Professional Conduct Committee or the Tribunal contains. Ten sections, the first nine closing with a reflective quiz, a post-course assessment, and a dated certificate from Healthcare Ethics Courses for your recertification record. It is remediation and dated evidence of it; it decides no matter, and it is not a substitute for advice from your indemnity insurer, your professional association or a lawyer.

What the Dental Council means by professionalism

The Standards Framework does not describe professionalism as a quality; it describes five ethical principles and the standards that give them content — put patients’ interests first, ensure safe practice, communicate effectively, provide good care, maintain public trust and confidence — with practice standards on consent, records and privacy, boundaries and advertising beneath them. A notification names one of them, and the course takes each in turn: what the Council expects, what notifications describe, and how it weighs the gap.

Three features of dentistry run through it. Money: fees are discussed and paid at the chair. The team: dentists, hygienists, therapists, technicians and auxiliaries work in one room and one laboratory chain. The image: dentistry photographs, advertises and increasingly treats by video — and the Council judges all of it as professional conduct.

What these words mean

The three terms that decide where a matter goes, and the other words the course uses.

Professional Conduct Committee: Two registered practitioners and a layperson, with a legal adviser and where needed an investigator, appointed where a notification is about conduct or a conviction. It investigates independently, reads your response, usually meets you, and recommends: no further action, counselling, a competence or health review, a change to your scope, or a charge before the Tribunal.
Professional misconduct: The Tribunal’s ground under s 100 of the Act: malpractice or negligence in your scope of practice, or conduct that has brought or was likely to bring discredit to the profession. Dishonesty, a boundary breach and a breach of confidence are among the findings made under it.
The three routes under the HPCA Act: Fitness to practise is the phrase practitioners use for the whole process. Under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 the Council or Board takes one of three routes: a competence review (your practice against the required standard); the health process — the Act’s fitness to practise provisions, for impairment by a mental or physical condition; or a referral of your conduct to a Professional Conduct Committee, which can lay a charge of professional misconduct before the Tribunal. Which route your letter names tells you how the matter is being treated.

The Framework, competence review, insight, remediation and the other terms the course uses

Standards Framework: The Dental Council’s Standards Framework for Oral Health Practitioners: five ethical principles, the professional standards that give them content, and the practice standards on particular subjects. Set under the Act, it is the document a notification is measured against and the one a response should cite by principle and standard.
Oral health practitioner: Everyone the Council registers: dentists and dental specialists, dental hygienists, dental therapists, oral health therapists, clinical dental technicians, dental technicians and orthodontic auxiliaries. The Framework and the Council’s processes apply to all of them, and so does this course.
Notification: The Act’s word for a concern about a practitioner reaching the Council — from a patient, a colleague, an employer, ACC or the courts. A notification is not a finding; the Registrar and a professional advisor consider it first and ask for your comment.
Competence Review Committee: The committee the Council appoints where the competence route is followed, after a professional advisor’s inquiries and usually a practice visit. It reviews clinical practice, clinical management, practice systems, record keeping, prescribing and communication, and can recommend an individual recertification programme or conditions.
Professional boundary: The line between the clinical relationship and any other, set out in the Council’s practice standard. The responsibility for keeping it sits with the practitioner whoever initiated the drift, and the standard extends to colleagues, staff and the public.
Insight: Acceptance of the seriousness of a lapse and its effect on the patient, the team and public trust, without minimising it or shifting responsibility to the schedule, the patient or the practice. The Council treats limited insight as the strongest predictor of recurrence.
Remediation: Corrective action targeted to the lapse and verifiable by someone else: CPD on the standard concerned, mentoring or peer review with reports, audits of records, consent or fees repeated over time, feedback gathered on purpose. CPD hours on an unrelated subject count for little on their own.

The provisions a professionalism concern about an oral health practitioner engages

Professionalism is conduct, and the Dental Council’s standards say what professional conduct is for the profession. These are the standard itself and the provisions of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 a professionalism notification about an oral health practitioner runs under.

Dental Council — Standards Framework for Oral Health Practitioners

Five ethical principles, the professional standards and the practice standards — informed consent, patient records and privacy, professional boundaries, advertising among them. Every professionalism notification about an oral health practitioner names a part of it. Read it.

For this course: The course takes the Framework’s five principles and its practice standards as behaviour, so that a response names the principle or standard the conduct fell short of.

Section 71 — referral to a Professional Conduct Committee

A conduct concern — behaviour towards patients or colleagues, honesty, respect — is referred to a Professional Conduct Committee of two registered practitioners and a layperson, which investigates independently, asks for your comment and usually meets you. Read it.

For this course: A professionalism concern is a conduct concern and is referred here; the course explains what the Committee of two registered practitioners and a layperson will ask.

Section 100 — the grounds of discipline

The Tribunal may discipline for professional misconduct — malpractice or negligence, or conduct likely to bring discredit to the profession — among other grounds. Discredit is judged by what the public and the profession would make of the conduct. Read it.

For this course: Conduct that brings discredit to the profession is a ground of discipline, and the course explains how it has been applied to oral health practitioners.

Section 101 — the penalties

Censure, conditions, suspension for up to three years, cancellation of registration, a fine of up to NZ$30,000 and costs. Insight, restitution and remediation are weighed every time. Read it.

For this course: The Tribunal’s penalties in dental conduct cases weigh pattern, restitution and insight; the course teaches the evidence for the last.

Also engaged: Section 118 — the Council sets the Framework a notification is measured against · Section 34 — practitioners and employers must notify a risk of harm, which is why a notification may come from within a practice · Section 80 — what a Professional Conduct Committee may recommend, from counselling to a charge · Section 36 — a competence review where professionalism and competence overlap: records, communication, scope.

What happens after a notification reaches the Dental Council

The stages a notification about an oral health practitioner can pass through. At every one the same evidence is read: a specific reflection, insight that does not qualify itself, and remediation someone else can verify — the earlier it exists, the earlier the matter ends.

The Registrar and a professional advisor sort the notification
The Registrar, with a professional advisor and the Council’s legal adviser, sorts the notification into competence, conduct or health and writes to you for your comment. Many notifications end here — no further action or an educative letter — and which depends on the comment.
A practice visit and a Competence Review Committee
Where the concern suggests practice below the required standard, a professional advisor makes inquiries and usually visits the practice; a Competence Review Committee may then review clinical management, practice systems, records, prescribing and communication, and recommend a recertification programme or conditions.
The health route
Where a condition, or the use of controlled substances, may affect your practice, the Council works with you and your medical team under the Act’s fitness to practise provisions — a medical examination, monitoring and conditions where needed. Early intervention usually keeps a practitioner in practice.
A Professional Conduct Committee
Overtreatment, overclaiming, a false record or declaration, a boundary, misleading advertising, practising outside scope or breaching conditions: two registered practitioners and a layperson investigate, read your comment, usually meet you, and recommend anything from no further action to a charge. Insight decides more than the event does.
The Tribunal
A legally qualified chair, three oral health practitioners and a layperson hear the charge, usually in public. Penalties run from censure to cancellation; insight, restitution and remediation are weighed in every decision, and any order is reviewed against what has changed.
Interim suspension or conditions
Where patients are at serious risk the Council may suspend your practising certificate or impose interim conditions at any stage, and the Tribunal may once a charge is laid. An interim order is a precaution, not a finding, and is reviewed.

Facing a Dental Council investigation, complaint or allegation? This course helps you remediate — and demonstrate it.

Buy this course — NZ$200

Not an oral health practitioner? New Zealand regulates 18 professions under the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003, and the process is the same for all — courses for every registered profession →

Frequently asked questions

What does the Council want to see in my written comment?

The events in order and plainly; the principle or standard of the Framework you fell short of, named by you first; the effect on the patient in their terms; what you have done since, with dates; and what would be different next time.

Should I take advice before I respond to the Council?

Yes — before anything is written to the Council, a professional advisor, a Professional Conduct Committee, the Tribunal or your employer. Your indemnity insurer, your professional association or a lawyer should read a comment before it is sent. Nothing on this page is legal advice, and no course determines the outcome of a matter.

Does completing this course count as remediation?

It is one dated item. Remediation the Council recognises is targeted to the lapse and checkable by someone else — CPD on the standard, a mentor’s or peer’s reports, an audit repeated after an interval, feedback gathered on purpose, and reflection that cites the Framework. No provider is accredited by the Council and no course decides a matter; check the wording of any direction with your indemnity insurer, professional association or lawyer.

The complaint is about my manner with a nervous patient, not my dentistry. Is that really a Council matter?

Yes. Communicating effectively is one of the Framework’s five principles, and inappropriate communication is a recurring theme in the Council’s conduct cases. A single exchange usually ends with your comment and perhaps an educative letter; a pattern, or an exchange the patient found humiliating, can go to a Professional Conduct Committee.

I added to a patient’s notes after the complaint arrived. Is that dishonesty?

A later entry dated as a later entry is ordinary practice. An entry written to look contemporaneous, or an original altered to remove something, turns a records concern into one about honesty, which the Council treats as misconduct whatever the harm.

The concern is about fees — an estimate that did not match the invoice. Is that professionalism?

Yes. Financial transparency and informed financial consent sit under the Framework’s first principle, and a charge for treatment not provided is a probity matter. Some fee disputes fall outside the Council’s remit; the ones it takes up turn on what the patient was told.

I am a hygienist, a therapist or a technician, not a dentist. Is this course for me?

Yes. The Council registers every oral health practitioner under one Framework and one set of processes, and the course is written for all of them. The page name uses “dentists” because that is what many people search for.

Is cultural safety a conduct matter for dental professionals?

Yes. The Council’s cultural competence standard and its expectations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi make the way a practitioner works with Māori patients and whānau a professional matter, and the course gives cultural safety its own section and remediation pathway.

How is this course different from the Ethics course for dentists?

The Ethics course is about the reasoning behind a decision — consent and cost, confidentiality, cosmetic treatment, fairness. This course is about conduct — the behaviours the Framework requires and the lapses that produce notifications.

How long does it take, and how long do I have access?

The course is 2 CPD hours, self-paced, with twelve months’ access from purchase. The certificate is issued on completion, dated, with the course title and the CPD hours, for your recertification record, a recertification programme or a response.

Notifications rarely raise one issue. These are the courses that pair with this one.

Ethics and Ethical Standards for Dentists

Ethics course for NZ dentists and oral health practitioners facing a Dental Council notification. Written to the Standards Framework. 2 CPD hours.

2 CPD hours · NZ$200

Confidentiality in Healthcare Practice

Confidentiality and privacy course for NZ health practitioners facing a notification or privacy concern under the Health Information Privacy Code. 2 hours.

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Social Media Professionalism and Boundaries for Healthcare Professionals

Social media course for NZ health practitioners facing a notification about a post, online contact with a patient, or advertising. 2 CPD hours, NZ$200.

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Financial Integrity for Healthcare Professionals

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Documentation for Healthcare Professionals

Clinical documentation and health records course for NZ health practitioners facing a notification about records, late entries or amendments. 2 CPD hours.

2 CPD hours · NZ$200

Dealing with a Complaint or Investigation Professionally

Responding to a complaint, notification, competence review or conduct committee in NZ: the first letter, the meeting, what to write. 2 CPD hours.

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Rebuilding Trust of Patients, Colleagues, the Public and the Regulator

After a notification, conditions or a Tribunal finding in NZ, what is assessed is what you did next: insight, remediation, evidence of change. 2 CPD hours.

2 CPD hours · NZ$200