How to check if your dentist is registered

Use the GDC's online register

Go to the GDC's online register (link below). Search by name or by 5- to 7-digit GDC registration number. The number is shown on dental practice receipts, on practitioner profile pages on a clinic's website, and on display in the surgery itself — by law, every UK dental practice must display the GDC numbers of all its dental professionals.

If your practitioner is one of the dental care professional categories rather than a dentist, the same register search applies. The register entry will show you which category they are registered in.

What the entry tells you

Each entry shows the registrant's name, registration number, profession, qualifications, and registration status. The GDC also publishes practice details where the registrant has provided them.

• Registered — the practitioner can practise
• Suspended — practice is paused, often pending or following a hearing
• Conditions on practice — they can practise only subject to specific restrictions
• Erased — they have been struck off and cannot practise
• Voluntary removal — they asked to be removed from the register

What to do if there is no record

If the person treating you is not on the GDC's register, they are not lawfully entitled to practise dentistry in the UK. Practising without registration is a criminal offence. Report the concern to the GDC, to the Care Quality Commission (which regulates the dental practice itself), and to NHS England if the practice provides NHS dental services. Stop the treatment if you believe you are at risk.

Where to find old fitness-to-practise outcomes

The Dental Professionals Hearings Service (DPHS) publishes recent hearing decisions in its decisions bank. Older decisions can age out of the index. MedicWatch retains them so they remain findable.