What happens once you're registered

Once you are registered, an original registration certificate will be sent to your address. You may also search the online register to see if you have been registered, as this will be updated before you receive your certificate.

Your name, qualification(s) and registration number will appear in the register once you are registered.

Please ensure you are familiar with what is expected of you as a GDC registered dental professional. Dental professionals are required to be familiar with the GDC Standards and Guidance.

Once registered, you must have professional indemnity to practise in the UK.

Keeping your name on the register

To keep your name on the register you are required to pay an annual retention fee (ARF). You will receive notification from us when this payment is due. See registration fees for more information.

We would strongly encourage you to set up a Direct Debit for future payments. If you do not pay the ARF by the required deadline, you could be removed from the GDC Register, which would result in you being unable to practice as a dental professional in the UK. You can set up and monitor a Direct Debit instruction through your online account.

Continuing professional development (CPD)

Once registered with the GDC, registrants must undertake continuing professional development (CPD) in five-yearly cycles. See CPD for dental professionals.

Publication of your personal details

The GDC’s register rules and regulations require us to keep a register of the names of everyone who is registered with us. The registers are public documents and are published on our website. The dentists and DCP registers contain the names and other information about a registrant the GDC is legally obliged to make public. We don’t currently publish registered addresses but may do in future. Any formal notices issued by the GDC will be sent to your registered address, so you must have access to correspondence at this address.

Change of address and personal details

Please let us know if you change your registered address or personal details, including your email address, by logging in to your online account. Failure to do so could mean that you don’t receive important communications and notices, including those relating to the annual fee, CPD and indemnity, which could result in you being taken off the register.

Data protection

Under the UK General Data Protection Regulation (UK GDPR) and Data Protection Act 2018 (the DPA), the GDC processes personal data, like the information in your application, because the processing is necessary for the exercise of the GDC’s statutory functions, and the processing is also in the substantial public interest. Information about how the GDC will use and share the information you give us, the various rights you have in connection with any personal data about you that is held by the GDC, and how long we will keep your information for can be found in the GDC’s privacy notice.