News feed - Practice Plan

All the latest dentistry news, all in one place.

Our dental news feed will be regularly updated to help you stay informed and keep up-to-date with everything that's happening in the industry.

Reflecting on 2024: progress and milestones in dentistry

Polly Bhambra reflects on different moments from an eventful year in dentistry and her goals for the coming year.

Significant gap in dental workforce, says association

The Association of Dental Groups (ADG) has highlighted the significant gap in the dental workforce, as it awaits the government and the Department of Health and Social Care’s (DHSC) action plan to deliver on their…

GDC fails to reach all standards of ‘good regulation’ in 2023/24

The General Dental Council (GDC) has met 16 out of 18 Standards of Good Regulation for 2023/24. This marks the same number that were met in the 2022/23 review period.

BDA - NHS dentistry: All we want for Christmas is clarity

Dentists in England are set to break for Christmas with no idea about when contractual uplifts will land, what shape support might take for the hike in overheads brought by the recent Budget, and little…

COVID-19 Dental Health Dental Profession Finance Mental Health NHS Practice Management Regulation

HTM 07-01: the key changes

Pat Langley navigates the updated Health Technical Memorandum 07-01: A Guide for Dental Practices. Few would disagree that the practice of dentistry produces huge amounts of waste in the form of single-use items. This needs to change where possible and as a profession, we need guidance on how best to… Read more

GDC showed ‘woeful ignorance’ in handling confidential papers, says High Court

The General Dental Council (GDC) has acknowledged ‘significant deficiencies’ in the way it acted following a High Court judgement over its application for disclosure of family court documents. Read more

GDC revises fitness to practise processes to ‘improve timeliness’

The General Dental Council (GDC) has adopted an initial enquiries process to speed up fitness to practise (FtP) investigations. Read more

GDC discloses number of suicides among dental professionals with fitness to practise concerns

The cause of death for dental professionals who have died while fitness to practise (FtP) concerns were investigated or remediated have been released by the General Dental Council. Read more

Overseas registration exam in dentistry – all you need to know

The overseas registration exam (ORE) is sat by dentists whose qualifications are not recognised for the purposes of UK dental registration. We take a look into how it works, the profession’s experience of it and how it can be improved. Read more

Four in five whistleblowing reports led to regulatory action, GDC reveals

The General Dental Council (GDC) has published its 2024 annual report on whistleblowing disclosures in dentistry. From 01 April 2023 to 31 March 2024 the GDC received 79 disclosures of information. This compares to 82 in the previous year. Regulatory action was taken in 64 of the incidences (81%), namely… Read more

‘Desire for improvements’ to ORE availability, GDC reveals

The General Dental Council (GDC) has published the outcome of its call for evidence on the structure and operation of the overseas registration examination (ORE). Read more

GDC announces more dates for overseas registration exam

Key dates for upcoming overseas registration exam (ORE) sittings have been released, the General Dental Council (GDC) announced today. The GDC said it is working with the current providers to increase the capacity of ORE exams in the UK – with plans to further increase capacity in 2025. Read more

New path for overseas dentists approved by GDC

The General Dental Council (GDC) has approved a new dentistry degree that provides practical training for overseas students within primary care practice. Read more

Covert surveillance will be used ‘sparingly’ in investigations, says GDC

The GDC has released new legal and ethical framework on the use of covert surveillance during fitness to practise investigations. Read more

Health regulator not fit for purpose – Streeting

The body responsible for regulating NHS and care services in England is not fit for purpose, the health secretary has said. Wes Streeting's intervention comes after an independent review found significant failings at the Care Quality Commission (CQC), according to headline findings released by the government. Read more

Health watchdog calls for ‘fundamental’ dental reforms

Funding protection, publicity campaigns and regular national updates are just some of the dental reform recommendations made by a health watchdog. Read more

More fitness to practise cases are closing early, says GDC

We are seeing fewer concerns and closing more cases at the early stages of the fitness to practise (FtP) process, says a GDC director. Clare Callan, associate director of fitness to practise at the GDC, said that the number of concerns received and initially assessed has reduced by more than… Read more

Work underway to report cause of death during active FtP cases, says GDC

The GDC has provided an update to address recent concerns about the level of detail that is put into the public domain when the Interim Orders Committee (IOC) considers serious concerns. Read more

GDC ‘wrong and unjust’ in approach to suspension orders, court rules

The General Dental Council (GDC) has said it will appeal a recent High Court decision that ruled the GDC had acted ‘wrong and unjust’. Read more

GDC’s failure to meet all standards of good regulation ‘not good enough’

Calls have been made for the General Dental Council (GDC) to take action to reduce the amount of time taken to process fitness to practise decisions. This comes as a report shows the regulator failed to meet standards for timeliness in both fitness to practise cases and registration processing. Read more

Smile Direct Club collapse: What you need to know

The collapse of the remote orthodontic giant shows how companies working in a regulatory black hole can leave patients - and potentially clinicians stepping into the breach - and at risk. Read more

‘Too many bad stories’ – Botox providers in England face stricter standards

The government could ban unlicensed providers of non-surgical cosmetic treatments in England following the launch of a new consultation. At present, healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses and dentists carrying out non-surgical cosmetic procedures, such as Botox, have to be trained and insured to do them as part of the… Read more

GDC to review ‘top-up’ fee cases in light of Williams

The GDC has pledged to review any ‘top-up’ fee cases that have been ‘put in doubt’ by the Williams case whereby a dental professional was suspended or erased. Read more

Has the GDC made a monumental oversight?

In light of the GDC versus Williams case, Neel Kothari argues why the profession needs to properly scrutinise its regulatory obligations. Read more

GDC fails to provide number of dentists erased for charging ‘top up’ fees

The GDC has failed to meet its legal requirement to provide the number of dentists who have been erased for providing ‘top up’ fees in recent years. Read more

Top-up fees judgement highlights need for consistency in regulation

John Makin advises practices to tread cautiously before making any changes based on the recent top-up fees judgement. Read more

GDC releases update on deaths during fitness to practise investigations

The GDC will no longer release its report on the cause of death of registrants who have died during an active fitness to practise investigation in the first half of this year. Stefan Czerniawski, executive director of strategy, said while the GDC has made ‘considerable progress’, it will not be… Read more

Has the GDC become too close to NHS England?

CQC comes full circle on regulation

The BDA Dentistry Show returned to the NEC in Birmingham after a two year hiatus. Amongst all of the stands vying for the visitors attention were a couple of organisations who need fear no competition. Read more

BDA: England: Return to ‘business as usual’ order criticised

The BDA has slammed moves by government to effectively return to normal working arrangements for NHS dentists in England. The move comes with no meaningful changes to the pandemic restrictions dental teams work to and with infection rates now at an all-time high. Read more

Records Have Been Deleted – GDC’s Response To FOI Internal Review Request

The ‘transparency’ of the General Dental Council has once again been called into question after the regulator revealed the results of an internal review into its response to a Freedom of Information Request. The original FOI request came from GDP Dr Dominic O’Hooley, who was seeking information about the GDC’s tendering process when… Read more

Dental profession calls for permanent VAT exemption on PPE

Dentists are calling for a permanent VAT exemption on personal protective equipment (PPE) to help healthcare settings fight COVID-19. Kicked off by James Goolnik, a petition has been launched calling on the government to scrap VAT on PPE, including gloves, masks and aprons. Earlier this year, a temporary exemption was… Read more

England lockdown from 5 November

Following the Prime Minister’s announcement on Saturday evening, we are seeking urgent clarification as to the position of dental services during the four week period of additional restrictions from 5 November. Based on the Government guidance so far published our interpretation is that dental practices will continue to operate as at present.… Read more

CDO Letter – Full range of NHS dental treatments from 1st November

In a letter released 12th October, Tom Ferris CDO Scotland announced that, as of Sunday 1st November dental contractors will be able to provide a full range of dental treatments to NHS patients. This announcement follows the recent publication of the Scottish Dental Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) ‘Review of Aerosol Generating… Read more

England’s CDO cuts fallow time requirements for dental practices

All four of the UK’s chief dental officers have accepted recommendations cutting fallow time to potentially 10 minutes. Put together by the working group SDCEP, a pragmatic guide with mitigation factors has been endorsed and incorporated into the latest revision of England’s SOPs. When the correct mitigation and air changes… Read more

Welsh dentists given critical worker status to continue working during lockdown

Vaughan Gething MS has confirmed the Welsh government considers dentists as critical workers, allowing them to continue working during lockdown. In a letter to the Independent Dental Association Wales (IDAW), the Minister for Health and Social Services points out dentists and their teams were not specifically named on the critical… Read more

FGDP(UK) launches a fallow time calculator for dental practices

'A benchmark of 15 to 30 minutes’ – this is the new fallow time recommendation endorsed by the Faculty of General Dental Practice UK. In its updated guidance, the FGDP(UK) and the College of General Dentistry amended its fallow time advice. This follows the publication of a review on AGPs by the… Read more

GDC Chair will step down from role in 2021

Bill Moyes, who has been Chair of the GDC for the past eight years, will stand down from the role in September 2021, , having completed two 4-year terms in the post. The Council is looking for a head-hunter to search for a replacement. The Chair’s job involves 2 days… Read more

Report on resilience of mixed/private practices post-COVID-19 published

A collaborative group of dental bodies have published a report to investigate the validity of the claim “there will be a dearth of dental practices on the high street in 18 months’ time.” Read more

ADG urges government action to avoid crisis

The Association of Dental Groups (ADG) is calling on ministers to take urgent action on the crisis in UK dentistry. The full impact that lockdown has had on the nation’s teeth is yet to be seen. The fear is that people are consuming more sugary treats, fizzy drinks and alcohol. Read more

BADT & BSDHT urge action about overseas registration

Two hygiene and therapy bodies are lobbying the GDC about the overseas registering of dentists as hygienists and therapists. BADT and BSDHT Presidents have taken the unprecedented action of writing to all Council members of the GDC ensuring awareness is raised, and demanding the "daughter test" is applied. Read more

Public Health England to be scrapped and replaced

PHE is to be replaced by a new agency that will specifically deal with protecting the UK from pandemics. It's been claimed that a new body would be modelled on Germany's Robert Koch Institute. The move comes as ministers are said to be unhappy with PHE's response to COVID-19. Read more

New association launched for independent dentists in Wales

IDA Wales is open to all dental practitioners in Wales who provide any form or quantity of independently funded/private dental treatment. The group aims to provide 'a strong voice for the non-NHS aspects of dental provision' and is already gaining ‘seats at the table’ positions with HIW and the CDO Wales. Read more

BAPD calls for resignation of the Chief Dental Officer

The BAPD has called for the resignation of the Chief Dental Officer (CDO) Sara Hurley in response to a letter she sent to MPs. They say the letter's content bears ‘scant resemblance’ to the state of dentistry since COVID-19 struck and have asked for clarification. Read more

Jason Wong appointed as the new Deputy Chief Dental Officer

Jason Wong MBE has been appointed as the new Deputy Chief Dental Officer (CDO). The appointment follows the retirement of Janet Clarke last year. Dr Wong, a partner at Maltings Dental Practice, will share the role with fellow existing Deputy CDO Eric Rooney. Read more