Professional, Ethical and Legal Responsibilities in New Zealand
What is examined
Your obligations as a registered or registering dental technician in Aotearoa New Zealand: scope of practice, consent, privacy, record keeping, cultural safety and accountability.
Registration and scope
- The Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 governs registration, annual practising certificates, competence review and complaints. Work within your scope and maintain competence through CPD.
- Technicians fabricate to a dentist's prescription. You do not diagnose, prescribe or treat patients directly; if a prescription is unclear, contact the clinician rather than guessing.
- Dental Council practice standards require patient-centred care, informed consent for photographs and models, accurate records, and honest disclosure of errors.
Privacy and records
- The Privacy Act 2020 and the Health Information Privacy Code 2020 govern collection, use, storage and disclosure of health information. Share information with the treating clinician only with consent (or as the Code permits) and notify serious breaches.
- Retain records at least 10 years from the last entry for adults, and until the patient's 25th birthday for children.
Cultural safety
- Cultural safety means the person whose information and tissues you handle feels safe in the care relationship: names pronounced correctly, whānau included, and your own assumptions examined.
- Te Tiriti o Waitangi obligations underpin equitable service delivery; Te Whare Tapa Whā (tinana, hinengaro, whānau, wairua) is a practical framework.
- The Hui Process - mihi, whakawhanaungatanga, kaupapa, poroporoaki - guides engagement with Māori.
Worked example
A dentist asks you to email a full-arch scan to a colleague for a second opinion. You confirm consent, verify the address, send by encrypted method, include only the minimum data needed, and record the disclosure in the job file.
Traps
- Assuming consent for treatment also covers sharing images.
- Sending patient files through unencrypted links or personal accounts.
- Reducing cultural safety to a checklist rather than ongoing reflection on bias, power and equity.