27th August 2008

This will be my final report as President in WA before we complete the transition to the Oral Health Professionals Association's College of Technicians. A year of many challenges and far too much time spent on organisational issues. Hopefully it will mean we have a structure that will work well for Technicians leading into the new legislative environment and serve all our members, which includes all technicians, not just lab owners. We are actively seeking more members from the laboratories, and this includes the apprentices. As the generations change, we need the involvement of young members. They are the future of our industry. With the increasing volume of work sourced from overseas, it is more imperative that our group has strength in numbers.

This year we have held our first ever Dentechno in WA. My self and Jan Sullivan, the retiring National Executive Officer put in just a small amount of our lives to setting up this event. I would say it was a tremendous success. I am very pleased to say that we are already planning next years event.MAY 4TH 2009. This was the first Trade Show in WA since 1998 !!!
My thanks to Jan, the Committee, and to the exhibitors for making our Dentechno such a great success.

After each of the exhibitions around Australia, surveys are help us improve the delivery, venue and participation at the Dentechnos. As always your feed back is much appreciated. All being well Jan will help facilitate the next round. She has had her own personal battle and I am sure everyone wishes her wellness.

We also held our one social event; The Fishing Competition. Mr Colin Duzevic excelled on the day to take out the award and trophy. The President caught absolutely nothing. But then neither did Ian Warman, whom I think was dreaming of another 22kg monster Dhufish. Colin did not share his fish!! Prizes on the day came from our main sponsor Henry Schein Dental and Fishing WA Magazine.

As some of you would be aware, the new National Officeis now in Sydney.This has given rise to a number of challenges, none more than finding a replacement for Jan. After a number of abortive attempts we have been fortunate to now have the services of Ms Sam Degasso who is quickly coming to grips with our quirky industry and getting to know the membership. The Office was pulled together by the NSW State President Mr Marc Rondeau who has done a great job of making it feel and look great. If you are in the area drop in and make yourself known to Sam.

TGA

Throughout the year your Executive have continued to become familiar with the Therapeutic Goods Administration's (TGA) Legislation and regulation around "custom made medical devices" covering all the appliances we make as Technicians. A discussion paper is to be released by the TGA in the next two months with the latest proposals and time frames for implementation. Your Association's position paper - "Dental Appliance Manufacturing - Protecting the Public", is nearly complete but in summary we are looking at:-

Dental Appliances manufactured by Registered Dental Technicians using TGA registered materials in Accredited Laboratories issued to fully informed Patients as to the materials and who manufactured the appliance.

Many people remain unaware that the appliance has been manufactured somewhere other than within the Dental practice they are attending.

All the materials you are currently using are supplied by Australian dental houses, and are on the TGA register (at a cost) so the first part is in place.

Next, to have this outcome we are currently; yet again lobbying for National registration of Dental Technicians and to this end a paper outlining the reasons for registration is currently being developed with the help of CORA, the Boards and your Association. A draft will shortly be put to your Executive to support at the next CORA meeting in New Zealand in September. CORA and your Association will present this to the Australian Dental Council (ADC) in September and will hopefully have the support of the whole Dental Industry when presented to the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) later in the year.

The third part of the audit trail for Patients should ideally be accreditation of Laboratories. Your College is currently reviewing and developing our current Accreditation programme with the objective of having a creditable industry based accreditation programme in place within the next twelve to eighteen months. We have room for a committee member as part of this National Committee!

As the final part of the audit trail for patients, it is envisaged a card would be provided with each case listing the materials, your TGA manufacturing registration number to be presented to the patient at the time of issue. Currently Dentists who do not disclose the manufacturer, are considered to be the manufacturer, and if it is imported, the sponsor of the appliance. This does, and will have, many legal ramifications for Dentists who continue to assume this responsibility, including a demonstrated compliance with the essential principals of the TGA Legislation and possible litigation in the event they fail to report an adverse patient outcome should crown & bridge work, for example, fail due to inappropriate materials or adverse reactions to the appliance. We will be submitting an example of failure due to incorrect materials with the submission for the Registration of Technicians.

Education

Your Association has been involved in the Industry Skills Council (ISC) forums discussing your current training package the Diploma of Dental Technology. We have signed off on the next package to be offered by Registered Training Organisations (RTO) but have expressed our concerns of the membership with the very diverse delivery modes and outcomes being experienced across Australia. This will be taken up by your College Education committee in its first of their two year term. As a competency based training package, work place experience is an integral part of the delivery of training. The full spectrum of work place training is becoming more difficult to deliver with the increasing speciality in our industry.

I am very pleased to say that Industry Forums will be held with TAFE WA. The first of these has taken place and we were introduced to Mr Joe Ring, who has stepped up to commence training our apprentices at TAFE. It is important that we, as a group support and become involved with the training at TAFE. Employers must realise that taking on an apprentice is also taking on a moral and ethical obligation to "train" that apprentice. I envisage that it will be incumbent upon Employers to attend training sessions themselves as a major part of the apprenticeship system. For far too long, the Dental Technician has been a bit player in Dentistry. This will now change.

A policy of some years now has been a career path starting with a Certificate III course (Dental Laboratory Assistant) through to Advance Diplomas in all disciplines including Prosthetics, Crown & Bridge, Chrome, Implants and Orthodontics. Representation has been made to CORA and the ISC and I am pleased to inform you that the Education Committee along with other outside expertise are about to commence writing Advance Diplomas in the other areas to submit to the ISC for inclusion in the next round of discussions. It is important that this is driven by industry and it reflects what you want. We will not get many chances at this so lets do it well. If you have an interest in this area please come forward and contribute to the debate, planning and writing process.

The Education Committee will also be looking at a continuing education programme to be available to all members in each state. Other than OH&S we have been too quiet in this area for too long. It is hoped the National Committee will put together a programme that each State can choose from to meet the needs of the local members. These will be seen as opportunities to socialise and learn at the same time. Very important to the well being of the organisation.

OH&S

The benchmark industry manual provided to our membership is currently being updated to reflect the few changes that have happened in each State. Ms Pippa Wright has again been engaged to review and present the finished product in a digital format for our membership. This project should be complete shortly. Workshops will again be provided in each state as with the initial launch. It is important that we provide safe work environments for ourselves as well as our staff. We still have stock of the hard copy manual should you require one.

Insurance

We have had a policy of sourcing the most competitive insurance packages Nationally for our membership. This year we have all but completed negotiations for a business insurance package that we are confident will be the best available to the industry. This year, as was the case last year, MIPS has come in the most cost effective for Professional Indemnity for our Prosthetist members and I hope that by the end of this year the complete insurance package will be available to our College Membership. Please give serious consideration to supporting the College's preferred insurers when it comes time to renew your policy.

OHPA

Over the last month you have all been contacted to renew your membership for 08/09, in the OHPA College of Dental Technicians. Nomination forms have gone out for positions as State Councillors and they have all started to come back in. We will be hoping for 10 Councillors in each state to provide the backbone of the National Committees.

Rob Boshier and myself will present OHPA to CORA as your delegates to CORA for 2008. CORA will be discussing National Registration, Examinations for Overseas Applicants and future funding models for CORA. It will be the last time we will be attending as ACDLA delegates and we will be formally notifying CORA of the delegation of ACDLA responsibilities to the College. A copy of the exam procedure is available for your perusal.

The preparations for the Formal Launch are all but complete to be held in Sydney on the 13th September 2008 at the Holiday Inn at Mascot, just around the corner from the new office. Invitations will be sent to all members and, as always, you may bring as many guests as you care to. Mr Neil Waddell will be one of the guest speakers and the adoption of the constitution will all happen during the weekend. Planning workshops and a dinner are all part of the programme. The invitation and programme are enclosed. We are looking to have a good turnout of founding members of the new College. I commend the new organisation to you all and would ask for your support to increase the mandate of the Dental Technicians throughout Australia by encouraging as many of the 2700 technicians working in Australia to become part of the College for ALL Technicians.

I thank my colleagues for the privilege of having been able to represent them in State and National forums for our industry. I look forward to continuing with the work needed to ensure a smooth transition to the new model and would ask all Dental Technicians to consider where they can help themselves by being part of this new National Association. To be active we have to be proactive.

Nigel Pierson
Retiring State President