Dental Act of 1972 & Dental Regulations of 1974
Notice of Scopes of Practice and Prescribed Qualifications
Issued by the Dental Council pursuant to the Legislative and Regulatory framework of the Dental Act and Regulations
Dentists
Scope of Practice for General Dental Practice
The scope of practice for ‘Registered Dentist’ is the practice of dentistry as set out in the documented “Detailed Scope of Practice for Dental Practice” produced and published from time to time by the Dental Council of Jamaica.
It involves the maintenance of health through the assessment, diagnosis, management, treatment and prevention of any disease, disorder or condition of the orofacial complex and associated structures within the scope of the practitioner’s approved education, training and competence.
Detailed Scope of Practice for General Dental Practice
The Dental Council defines the practice of dentistry as the maintenance of health through the assessment, diagnosis, management, treatment and prevention of any disease, disorder or condition of the orofacial complex and associated structures within the scope of the practitioner’s approved education, training and competence.
This involves:
• Diagnosis of orofacial conditions and the provision of appropriate information to patients of diagnosis, treatment or management options and their consequences
• removing tooth tissue and/or placing materials for the purpose of either the temporary or permanent restoration or replacement of tooth structure or the rehabilitation of the dentition
• performing procedures on the orofacial complex, teeth, and the hard and soft tissues surrounding or supporting the teeth
• extracting teeth
• administration of local analgesia and/or sedative drugs in connection with procedures on the teeth, jaws and the soft tissues surrounding or supporting the teeth
• prescribing medicines appropriate to the scope of practice, the sale or supply of which is restricted by law to prescription by designated health practitioners
• prescribing special tests in the course of dental treatment using ionising radiation, for diagnostic purposes, in the course of the practice of dentistry
• Performing procedures on any person preparatory to, or for the purpose of, the construction, fitting, adjustment, repair, or renewal of artificial dentures or restorative or corrective dental appliances.
Practice in this context goes wider than clinical dentistry to include teaching, research, and management, given that such roles influence clinical practice and public safety.
Areas of dental practice which were not included in a practitioner’s training should not be undertaken unless the practitioner has completed appropriate training and practises to the standards required by the relevant Code of Practice.
Prescribed Qualifications
• Doctor of Medical Dentistry (DMD) – College of Oral Health Sciences, University of Technology, Jamaica
• Doctor of Dental Surgery (DDS)- Faculty of Medical Sciences Dental Programme UWI (Mona Campus)
• A Commission on Dental Accreditation (CDA) accredited undergraduate dental degree and a CDA accredited dental school in the USA or Canada; or
• A General Dental Council (GDC) accredited undergraduate dental degree from a GDC Accredited dental school in the UK, or Commonwealth as listed below: