The DBA releases a new COVID-19 update

On 8 May 2020, the Dental Board of Australia (DBA) released new information for dental practitioners regarding COVID-19 following agreement by the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee to move back to level 1 Dental Practice Restrictions.

The update provides more information on what level 1 restrictions mean for dental practitioners as well as reaffirming the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care’s COVID-19: elective surgery and infection prevention and control precautions. The precautions are available for download here. The DBA does note that further directive for dental practise will vary between the various state and territory health departments.

This update also provides an overview on the national principles for clinical education set by the Australian Government, Ahpra, the National Boards, and the Health Professions Accreditation Collaborative Forum in April 2020. These national principles help guide the decisions of professions, accreditation authorities, education providers and health services in relation to student clinical education during the COVID-19 pandemic response. These principles are available to download here.

The ADC, in collaboration with all Australian dental practitioner program providers, have also released dental-specific principles to guide how both groups will work together during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 dental practitioner program accreditation principles are available to download here.

The full update is available via the DBA website.