GDC fitness to practise concerns rise 26% despite stable erasure rates

The General Dental Council (GDC) received 1,766 new fitness to practise concerns during 2025, representing a 26% increase compared with the previous year, according to newly published regulatory data.

The figures, released in the GDC’s Fitness to Practise Statistical Report 2025, reveal a notable rise in concerns involving both dentists and dental care professionals. Complaints relating to dentists increased by 21%, while concerns involving dental care professionals rose by 45%.

Despite the increase in referrals, the number of dental professionals removed from the register remained unchanged at 18, accounting for just 0.01% of all registrants at the start of 2025.

In the report’s foreword, Theresa Thorp, the GDC’s Executive Director of Regulation, acknowledged ongoing concerns about the fitness to practise process. She noted that investigations can be lengthy and complex, contributing to perceptions of unfairness and mistrust, while also affecting the mental health and wellbeing of those involved.

Clinical Concerns Dominated by Orthodontics and Examinations

By the end of 2025, there were 761 cases open at the assessment stage, with clinical issues accounting for 58% of all active cases.

Orthodontics emerged as the most frequently cited clinical area, while concerns regarding the standard of patient examinations were the most common specific issue raised.

Among open clinical cases at the assessment stage, allegations were most commonly related to examinations (37%), followed by orthodontics (15%), fillings (14%), extractions (12%), and failures to follow current evidence and best practice (11%).

The report also highlighted conduct-related concerns at more advanced stages of the regulatory process. Sixty percent of allegations considered at initial practice committee hearings during 2025 involved registrants’ conduct.

More Cases Progress to Formal Hearings

The GDC recorded a significant increase in cases progressing through the later stages of the fitness to practise process.

Case examiners referred 275 registrants to practice committee hearings during 2025, compared with 198 in 2024. Initial practice committee hearings increased from 73 to 110 over the same period, while initial Interim Orders Committee hearings rose from 99 to 149.

However, the increase in hearings did not result in more erasures. Nine dentists, six dental nurses, and three other dental professionals from various registrant categories were removed from the register, maintaining the same overall total as the previous year.

Delays Persist at Assessment Stage

The report also identified continuing delays in the early stages of case handling. Average completion times at the assessment stage increased slightly from 76 working weeks in 2024 to 78 working weeks in 2025.

Performance improved once cases moved beyond assessment, with the average time between an assessment decision and a final case examiner decision falling from 50 working weeks to 36 working weeks.

The regulator reported positive results from a streamlined process introduced for single-patient clinical concerns. Under the revised approach, the average assessment period for these cases was reduced from 30 weeks to 16 weeks.

The findings provide a detailed picture of the growing volume of concerns received by the regulator while highlighting ongoing efforts to improve efficiency and address criticism of the fitness to practise process.

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