The General Dental Council has today launched a consultation on its new regulation strategy, with a focus on international registration and reducing fear among registrants.
Titled ‘Trusted and Effective: A Strategy for Dental Regulation’, the strategy proposes a new vision of ‘good oral health for all’. It outlines how the GDC will modernise its approach to regulation over the next three years, with outcomes planned through to 2030.
One of the issues addressed in the strategy includes the significant increase in internationally-qualified dental professionals joining the UK workforce – with 53% of newly registered dentists in 2024 being UK-trained – by developing a more accessible framework for international registration.
The strategy also focuses on the climate of fear within dentistry, with research showing dental professionals’ perceptions of the GDC decline sharply after qualification.
As a result, the strategy pledges commitment to reducing the negative unintended impacts of fitness to practise processes on mental health and wellbeing – all while maintaining robust public protection.
The strategy for 2026-2028 can be read here.
Access to NHS dentistry
The regulator is asking from feedback from the profession, which it says it will use to inform its decisions later in the year.
Lord Toby Harris, chair of the GDC, said: ‘With the launch of our public consultation today, we’re keen to receive feedback from dental professionals, stakeholders and partners over the next three months, as this important feedback will shape the final decisions that the council will take in the autumn.
‘Our public protection role remains the same, but we are proposing that we think more broadly about what that means when faced with challenges such as access to NHS dentistry and growing oral health inequalities. We cannot realise our vision of good oral health for all alone, but we can play a key role in creating the environment in which there are more dental professionals equipped to deliver the care that people need.’
The proposed strategy is funded through the Annual Retention Fee (ARF) that would return broadly to 2023 levels in 2026. Any subsequent increases would be capped at the Consumer Price Index, says the GDC, with the regulator committing to deliver 7% efficiency savings over five years. This is in addition to further savings from modernising registration processes and more effective use of estates.
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