Orthodontic auxiliary in New Zealand:
the role, the training, and working at Milk
An orthodontic auxiliary is a registered dental professional who fits braces, changes wires, takes the records and looks after patients chairside, to a specialist orthodontist's plan. In New Zealand it is its own scope of practice, earned through the NZAO training programme and registration with the Dental Council. This page explains the job, how people get into it, and what it is like at Milk, where the principal orthodontist examines for the national programme.
Newmarket and Albany. Registered auxiliaries and dental assistants who want the scope are both welcome to write.
What an orthodontic auxiliary does
The procedures in the scope, and the part of the job that is not in any scope document.
Fitting and adjusting
Bonding brackets and fitting braces to the plan, changing wires at each review, fitting bands, separators and elastics, and the day the braces come off. All to the orthodontist's prescription, with the orthodontist on site.
Records
Photographs, 3D scans and the records that a plan is built from, taken to a standard because the diagnosis depends on them.
Teaching patients
How to brush around braces, how to wear aligners and elastics, what to eat in the first week, and what to do if a wire pokes. A good auxiliary is the person a teenager actually listens to.
The chairside relationship
Auxiliaries see each patient every six to ten weeks for a year or two. They notice the missed elastics, the nervous parent and the child who needs a slower start. That is most of what makes a practice feel good to be treated in.
The auxiliary works to the orthodontist's prescription and under their supervision; diagnosis, treatment planning and the decisions along the way stay with the specialist. Read orthodontist vs dentist for how the roles fit together.
How to become an orthodontic auxiliary in NZ
Four steps, and most of them happen while you are already working chairside.
Start as a dental assistant
Most auxiliaries begin chairside in an orthodontic practice, learning the instruments, the appliances and the patients. A year here is the usual foundation, and it is how we meet most of the people we later train.
The NZAO training programme
The New Zealand Association of Orthodontists runs the orthodontic auxiliary programme: coursework, supervised clinical practice with an orthodontist, and an examination. It is completed while you work, because the clinical hours are earned chairside.
Registration with the Dental Council
On passing, you register with the Dental Council of New Zealand in the orthodontic auxiliary scope of practice and hold an annual practising certificate. From then on you carry out the procedures in your scope in your own right, to the orthodontist's prescription.
Growing in the role
Senior auxiliaries at Milk run their own columns, train new assistants and shape how the clinic day works. Dr Shaz examines for the NZAO programme, so the standard you train to here is the national one.
The programme and the scope are set by the New Zealand Association of Orthodontists and the Dental Council of New Zealand. Entry requirements and dates change, so check with the NZAO for the current intake.
Why auxiliaries choose Milk
You are trained by an examiner. Dr Shaz MacAvoy has trained auxiliaries in her own practice and examines for the NZAO orthodontic auxiliary programme. The standard here is the standard you will be marked against.
The orthodontist is on site. Every case is diagnosed and planned by a specialist orthodontist who is in the building, not a name on a letterhead. Questions get answered in the corridor.
Two clinics, one team. Newmarket, opposite the train station, and Albany, right at the motorway exit with free parking. Same team, same standards and the same way of working at both.
Modern appliances. LightForce custom 3D-printed braces, Angel Aligners, digital scanning and records. You learn the current version of the job, not the one from ten years ago.
Patients come first, and it is written down. Warm, unhurried care for children, teens and adults, honest advice that often means telling a family to wait, and a team that likes each other.
Room to grow. Assistants become auxiliaries, auxiliaries become seniors, and front of house grows into Treatment Coordination. We would rather grow people than hire over them.
What we look for
- Registered in the orthodontic auxiliary scope, or an established dental assistant who wants to train for it
- Warm with children and teenagers, calm with a nervous parent, and clear when explaining what to do at home
- Precise. Bonding, wires and records are done to a standard, every time, because the result depends on it
- Happy in a team that talks: to the orthodontist, to the front desk, to each other
- The right to work in New Zealand, and a willingness to work across Newmarket and Albany
How to get in touch
Email careers@milkorthodontics.co.nz with a few lines about where you are now, whether you hold the scope or want to train for it, and why Milk feels like your kind of place. A CV helps, a cover letter is optional.
We reply to every expression of interest, and we keep good people in mind when a role opens. Our current advertised roles are on the careers page.
Orthodontic auxiliary questions, answered honestly
What is an orthodontic auxiliary?
A registered dental professional with extra training in orthodontic procedures, who works chairside to the orthodontist's prescription. In New Zealand it is its own scope of practice with the Dental Council. Auxiliaries fit braces, change wires, take scans and photographs, fit and remove appliances and teach patients to look after them, with the orthodontist diagnosing, planning and overseeing every case.
How do you become an orthodontic auxiliary in NZ?
Most auxiliaries start as dental assistants in an orthodontic practice, then complete the New Zealand Association of Orthodontists orthodontic auxiliary training programme: coursework, supervised clinical practice under an orthodontist, and an examination. On passing, you register with the Dental Council of New Zealand in the orthodontic auxiliary scope and hold an annual practising certificate. Dental hygienists and therapists can also add the scope.
How long does the training take?
The NZAO programme runs over about a year alongside your work in the practice, because the clinical experience is gained chairside under supervision. Most people spend at least a year as a dental assistant first, so from a standing start it is usually two to three years to registration.
What is the difference between a dental assistant and an orthodontic auxiliary?
A dental assistant supports the clinician: setting up, passing instruments, suction, sterilising, patient care. An orthodontic auxiliary is registered to carry out defined orthodontic procedures on the patient themselves, to the orthodontist's prescription. Auxiliaries are trained, examined and registered; the responsibility and the pay reflect that.
What does an orthodontic auxiliary earn in NZ?
More than a dental assistant, because the role carries a registered scope and its own responsibilities. Pay varies with experience and the practice. We do not publish a figure on this page; if you send an expression of interest we will talk about it openly.
Does Milk train orthodontic auxiliaries?
Yes. Dr Shaz has trained auxiliaries in her own practice and is an examiner for the NZAO orthodontic auxiliary programme, which sets the national standard. A dental assistant who joins Milk and wants the scope is working in the right place to earn it.
Do I need a dental background to apply?
For the auxiliary role, yes: registration in the scope, or an established dental assisting background and the intention to train. For the Patient Coordinator role you do not; see our careers page. We are always glad to meet good people in either group.
Which clinic would I work at?
Milk has two clinics, Newmarket and Albany. Albany currently sees patients on Wednesdays, so most of the week is at Newmarket. Tell us where you live and what suits, and we will be straight about what the roster looks like.
Think you would fit right in?
Tell us where you are in your career and what you are looking for. If there is a fit, we will find a time for you to visit a clinic and meet the team.