EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

AMENDMENTS TO THE A.C.T. DENTAL REGULATIONS

No. 3 of 1963

	The Dental Board of the Australian Capital Territory has the power to reprimand, suspend or de-register a dentist who is deemed by the Board to be guilty of, among other things, unprofessional conduct.  Unprofessional conduct is stated in the Dentists Registration Ordinance 1931-1963 to include “advertising, otherwise than as permitted by the regulations, for the purpose of procuring patients or practice”.

	Although advertising by dentists is thus regarded as a serious breach of professional ethics, there are certain traditional forms of advertising which are considered ethically acceptable but which have not yet been prescribed in the Dental Regulations.  The amending Regulations are designed to overcome this deficiency and thereby to establish a definite criterion for determining “unprofessional conduct” in the way of advertising.

	Briefly, the amending Regulations specify the particulars which may appear on notices and lamps exhibited by dentists at their premises and the size and number of such notices and lamps, and stipulate the other acceptable forms of advertising which a dentist may employ, such as the use of appointment cards, account forms and letterheads and the inclusion of certain particulars in the telephone directory.

	The provisions of the amending Regulations are quite liberal and are unlikely to evoke criticism from Canberra’s dentists.

	Advantage has been taken of the opportunity to clarify certain provisions in the existing Regulations which are unrelated to the principal amendments.  The amendments contained in regulations 1 – 4 inclusive of the amending Regulations come within this category and are of no substantial significance.