Registration with the General Dental Council is a legal requirement for anyone practising dentistry in the UK. Without it, a dentist cannot treat patients, NHS or private.
The route to registration is not the same for every dentist. It depends on where they qualified. An EU or EEA qualified dentist follows one path. A dentist qualified outside the EU and EEA follows another, which usually means sitting a UK examination. English language evidence is often required on top. We manage whichever route applies, end to end.
The application process is genuinely different for an EU or EEA qualified dentist than for a dentist qualified elsewhere. We identify the correct route for each dentist and run all of it.
Dentists with a recognised EU or EEA qualification currently have it recognised through an individual assessment, under arrangements the Government has extended until June 2028. This route does not require the overseas exam and is usually faster.
We prepare and submit the assessment, manage the documentation and handle any English language evidence required.
Dentists qualified outside the EU and EEA usually need to pass a UK registration examination, either the Overseas Registration Exam (ORE) run by the GDC, or the Licence in Dental Surgery (LDS) run by the Royal College of Surgeons. Both are equally accepted.
We guide the dentist through eligibility, English language testing and the examination route, then take them into full registration.
Many dentists also need to evidence their English, commonly by sitting IELTS, before they can sit the overseas exam. The same evidence is often needed again for the visa. We coordinate it once, at the right time, so it counts for both.
Until a dentist holds GDC registration, they cannot treat a single patient. We treat it as the non-negotiable foundation of activation and do not stop until it is in place.
A dentist cannot treat patients or deliver activity at your practice until they are on the GDC register. Getting that managed properly protects:
Interview and approve the dentist, and confirm the role and start window. That is the extent of your involvement.
Confirms the registration route (UK, ORE or LDS), tracks documents and English-language evidence, chases each milestone with the GDC, and keeps you updated with a realistic first-day date.
It is the legal requirement to practise dentistry in the UK. No dentist can treat patients, NHS or private, without it.
No. An EU or EEA qualified dentist currently goes through an individual assessment, with no overseas exam, under arrangements extended until June 2028. A dentist qualified outside the EU and EEA usually needs to pass a UK examination, either the ORE or the LDS. We identify the correct route for each dentist and manage it.
Not for everyone, but many dentists need to evidence their English, commonly through IELTS, before sitting the overseas exam. The same evidence is often needed for the visa too. We coordinate it once, at the right time, so it serves both.
It varies by route and individual circumstances. Because we run registration in parallel with the visa rather than after it, the overall time to a working dentist is much shorter.
We manage the process thoroughly and only consider activation complete once registration is in place. Registration decisions themselves rest with the General Dental Council.
GDC registration is UK-Wide and required everywhere. The NHS steps that follow differ by country, and we manage the correct pathway for each.
Talk to Dentello about bringing on a dentist. We will manage registration and everything around it, from visa to first day.
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