Dental Act changes opposed

Press, 1 December 1987, Page 33

Dental Act changes opposed

PA Auckland Proposed changes to the Dental Act would lead to "unqualified quacks" joining the profession, said a Dental Association spokesman. The president of the Auckland branch, Dr Barry Pratt, said the profession was surprised to learn that legislation de regulating dental services was about to reach Parliament. The Minister of Health, Mr Caygill, said recently that the Government planned to change the act

to allow less qualified people to compete, and for dental nurses to move into secondary schools. The legislation, he said, could become a model for other professional groups such as doctors. Dr Pratt said, “We have done our best to out ourselves out of business by pushing fluoridation, which has resulted in reduced cavities. So why bring unqualified quacks in to help us out in that?” His colleagues would be upset by proposals to allow people to masquerade

as dentists unless there were safeguards and continuing education was guaranteed. The association said' it wanted to discuss the proposals with Mr Caygill and to make submissions on the draft. The national chairman, Dr Peter Collins, said that dental nurses were trained for a limited range of services to younger people. “Any extension is inappropriate without further consideration of training, economics and freedom of choice.”