Methods: Ten dental therapists completed an educational bridging program designed to translate their current clinical scope of practice to adult patients aged 26+ years. The program included 42 hours of didactic content, 14 hours of clinical observation, 42 hours of clinical practicum under direct supervision and 105 hours of clinical experience with supervision from mentoring dentists. Therapists undertook written and viva voce assessment, and were also assessed by the supervising and clinical mentoring dentists. Patient satisfaction was measured during the clinical practicum and clinical experience sessions.
Results: Supervising and mentoring dentists rated the knowledge and clinical skills of the participants as good to high at the completion of the education program, and considered them safe to treat adults aged 26+ years. Patients were very satisfied with the dental treatment provided during the study. Eight participants successfully completed the assessment component, and were permitted by the Dental Practice Board of Victoria to extend their clinical scope of practice to adult patients aged 26+ years.
Conclusions: This educational bridging program provided University educated dental therapists with the knowledge and skills required to enable them to translate their current scope of practice to adult patients 26+ years of age.