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The new Dental Board of Australia chair Dr Simon Shanahan looks forward to continuing and even improving upon the Board’s mission to support the dental profession. By John Burfitt
Back when Dr Simon Shanahan was a young dental student at the University of Western Australia, he recalls the mere mention of the Dental Board of Australia sent a shiver through him and other students.
“At dental school, there was this belief ingrained in us that the Dental Board was like the big, bad bogeyman that we had to live in constant fear of,” Perth-based Dr Shanahan says.
“And I believe that fear remains today in many practitioners and that’s a myth that needs to change as it’s not an accurate representation of the Board’s place within dentistry.”
As the new chair of the Dental Board of Australia, a position he was appointed to in December, Dr Shanahan believes better information about the range of work the Board does in support of regulations and performance standards in dentistry needs to be more prominent.
But he adds, “I didn’t come into the Dental Board with a list of things I feel I need to do over the next three years I am in the role, as the previous chair Murray Thomas did a fantastic job. There is already a very progressive board, that has embraced change when appropriate but also stuck clearly and carefully to the role it was set up to do.
“What I am more focused on is what all dental practitioners—not just dentists—need from the Dental Board. I just don’t want them to see us as a body that applies rules without consideration.”
Under its legislation, the Dental Board’s role is to offer a comprehensive set of regulations that defines standards of practice, responsibilities of dental professionals, and mechanisms for ensuring public safety and ethical conduct within the dental profession. The goal is to set regulations that ensure delivery of high-quality, safe dental care to all Australians.
Supporting practitioners
Dr Shanahan already has a long history of regulatory involvement with the DBA, having previously served in such positions as the DBA’s chair of both the West Australian Registration and Notification Committee and the National Notification Committee since joining the organisation in 2012. He has also been actively involved with the ADA for more than 30 years.
I’ve just always believed in a sense of duty and giving back to the community in any way you can. I guess this role at the Dental Board is volunteering in a different way, just like the roles I’d taken on with the ADA.
Dr Simon Shanahan, chair, Dental Board of Australia
“At the Dental Board, we’re on the side of justice,” Dr Shanahan says. “This is about establishing an even playing field for the dentist, the consumer and the profession.”
One key feature he believes the profession needs from the Dental Board is consistency. “I see our prime purpose is to protect the public, with us as the middle ground to be firm and fair to support practitioners when they come in contact with us, be it either for registration or due to a notification.
“The Dental Board needs to have insights and independence and be culturally aware and when people deal with us, they experience humanity. I believe the Board has done a good job in terms of fairness and humanity, both for the complainant and also for practitioners.”
The Dental Practitioner Support service was set up as a free national wellbeing service to offer confidential support and is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. “That’s indicative of the fact the Board has and will continue to focus on fairness. We have to, for the sake of everyone involved,” he says.
Looking good
According to the 20223/24 ADB Annual Report, 723 notifications (complaints) about 597 dental practitioners were lodged with Ahpra. This number constitutes just 3.8 per cent of the entire profession. Of those, over 54 per cent were closed without further action, while conditions were imposed on registration in 8.2 per cent of cases and 1.6 per cent of cases were cautioned or reprimanded.
Dr Shanahan believes these figures support his claim that in 2025, Australian dentistry is in good shape.
“Truly, the majority of practitioners throughout the country do the right thing and do it well,” he says. “What the Dental Board does is take the temperature of the behaviour of the practitioners each year, and I am really proud of where we are at as the majority do the right thing all the time.
“But we also are at an interesting time when skills need to be constantly maintained, especially as so many people in the profession are also running a small business and, away from their clinical skills, are dealing with all kinds of pressures and demands of keeping a business running.
“I want more dentists to know into the future they can check in with us when needed to help them keep going in the right direction. I am proud of our profession and while of course there are the outliers, we’re doing well.”
Outside of the Board
After 28 years operating his Southbridge Dental clinic in Perth, Dr Shanahan sold the business three years ago to his associate Dr Louise Winters but has remained on the team. He works five days a week at the practice, and his wife Dr Millicent Woon is dentist on the team.
It was selling the business, and the fact that both his sons had left school that convinced Dr Shanahan the time was right to step up for the DBA role. “It means I have to travel to the eastern states frequently, but so far, we are making it work without any problems,” he says. “Louise has been very understanding when we have had to juggle things around.”
One area of Dr Shanahan’s life the DBA role is having a significant impact on is his commitment to volunteering, which has been important throughout his career. In 1998, he set up the Equal Health project with his friend Paul Clarke, which delivers dental care to those in need in India, Thailand, Indonesia and East Timor.
He has also been active assisting Indigenous communities with John and Jan Owen’s Kimberley Dental Team as well as underprivileged groups in suburban Perth.
His commitment was recognised with a Distinguished Service Award by the ADA WA branch last year. He has also been honoured with fellowships in the Academy of Dentistry International, the International College of Dentists and the Pierre Fauchard Academy.
“I just won’t have the time for the next while with the DBA to do any volunteering, but I will see if I can find some time here and there,” he says. “I’ve just always believed in a sense of duty and giving back to the community in any way you can. I guess this role at the Dental Board is volunteering in a different way, just like the roles I’d taken on with the ADA.
“I think if you’ve got the skills and the opportunity, giving back is a privilege. Living in the part of the world we do, we have incredible advantages—and that’s not to say there is not a need in Australia, because there is.
“There are so many ways to give back and not all of it needs great fanfare,” he continues. “It might be as simple as helping someone in your own practice, assisting a new graduate step into the profession, mentoring a younger colleague or getting involved in your local ADA branch. As dentists, there are always people who need our help, and every contribution counts.”
