General Dental Council (GDC) and Dental Professionals Hearings Service (DPHS)

Who the GDC regulates

Every dentist and dental care professional working in the UK must be registered with the GDC. Practising without registration is a criminal offence.

• Dentists
• Dental nurses
• Dental hygienists
• Dental therapists
• Dental technicians
• Clinical dental technicians
• Orthodontic therapists

The GDC register and GDC number

The GDC register is public, free, and updated regularly. You can search it 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.

Each register entry shows the registrant's name, registration number, profession, qualifications, and registration status, along with practice details where the registrant has provided them.

What the DPHS does

The DPHS runs hearings for cases referred by the GDC's case examiners. Practice committees include Professional Conduct, Professional Performance, Health, Interim Orders, and Registration Appeals.

Sanctions a committee can impose include erasure from the register, suspension, conditions on practice, a reprimand, or no further action. Interim orders — temporary restrictions imposed before a substantive hearing — can also be made by the Interim Orders Committee.

Where to find older DPHS decisions

The DPHS maintains a decisions bank that holds recent decisions. Older decisions can age out of the index. MedicWatch retains the persistent record under the journalism exemption so decisions remain findable after they leave the DPHS index.