International registration reforms

The Dentists, Dental Care Professionals, Nurses, Nursing Associates and Midwives (International Registrations) Order 2023 (the 2023 Order) made amendments to international registration provisions of the Dentists Act 1984.   

The amendments increase the flexibility we have to set rules and to amend routes to registration for dental professionals with overseas qualifications, providing a legal framework that enables us to modernise the processes for the registration of those who qualify outside the UK.   

We are now developing a comprehensive framework of routes to registration for professionals who have qualified overseas, facilitating access to the UK registers, while maintaining the standards that ensure public safety. 

Developing this framework will take some time, during which we need to continue to enable access to the registers for appropriately qualified professionals. In the short term, this means continuing with current arrangements, the Overseas Registration Examination (ORE) for dentists, and assessed applications for dental care professionals.  

We consulted on proposals for new rules for international registration last year. Our outcome report provides a summary of the views received and our responses to the issues raised during the consultation. We have also published a summary of the outcome of our call for evidence on international registration, which is supporting the development of improvements to the ORE and routes to registration for those who qualify outside the UK.

The new rules came into effect on 9 March 2024:

• Rules for international registration, dentists
• Rules for International registration, DCPs