Paying the ARF for 2008 renews your registration from 1 January 2008, so you should pay it before 31 December 2007.

We sent send your ARF Notice to you at your registered address on or around 9 November 2007. The Notice told you how much you needed to pay and how you can do so.

It also:
* quoted your bank details if you pay your ARF by direct debit, and
* quoted your specialties if you are a specialist, and
* asked you to confirm which specialites you wish to maintain.

Please check your bank details carefully. If they are incorrect, contact us straight away on 0845 222 4141.

You can pay your ARF by:

- Debit or credit card
- Cheque
- Banker's draft
- United Kingdom postal orders
- Direct Debit

You can pay on-line using your credit or debit card by using the ARF on-line link on the home page.

Payment must be in pounds sterling.

Cheques, UK postal orders and bank drafts must be made payable to the 'General Dental Council'. Cheques and bank drafts must be payable through a UK bank. Please remember to write your name and registration number on the reverse of your cheque, postal order or bank draft.

If you had a direct debit set up to pay your ARF, we claimed your 2008 ARF as one sum from your bank account on or immediately after 7 December.

Please remember to let us know promptly if you change any of your bank details. If you forget to do this, will may not be able to claim your ARF by direct debit which may mean that your registration may not be renewed which would prevent you from being able to practise.

We claimed your 2008 ARF as one sum from your bank account on or immediately after 7 December 2007.

Please check your bank details carefully. If they are incorrect, contact us straight away on 0845 222 4141.

We will send your practising certificate to your registered address within fifteen working days of receiving your fee.

To reduce the opportunity of fraud, we do not issue duplicate annual practising certificates.

We are happy to send you a certificate confirming your registered details. If you would like to receive a confirmation certificate, please email us at GDCRegistration@gdc-uk.org asking us to send one to you. In your email please include:

* your registration number
* your full name

It is your responsibility to pay your annual retention fee on time. If you miss the payment deadline your name will be removed from the Register and you will not be able to practise.

Notice of your removal will be circulated to Primary Care Trusts, Health Boards and protection societies throughout the UK to enable them to keep their records up to date.

If you wish to resume practice in the UK, you must:

* apply to restore your name to the Dentists Register or the Dental Care Professionals Register and supply a health declaration which must be signed by a doctor and a character declaration which must be signed by a professional who knows you

* pay the retention fee and a restoration fee as follows:

Dentist: £548 (£438 annual retention fee plus £110 restoration fee)
Dental Care Professional: £120 (£96 annual retention fee plus £24 restoration fee)
Specialist: £65 per List (£52 retention fee plus £13 restoration fee)

* if you are working outside the UK you will also have to provide a letter of good standing from the dental authority of that country

It is illegal for an unregistered person to practise dentistry in the UK. You must not practise until your name has been restored to the Registers.

Being on the register is about being fit to practise in the UK. It is not related to the type or duration of your work here.

If you intend to work abroad for the whole of a calendar year (1 January-31 December) then you may wish to allow your registration with the GDC to lapse. Whatever you decide, it is advisable to contact the GDC Registration team GDCRegistration@gdc-uk.org or 020 7344 3740 to discuss your circumstances.

Remember that if you are a dentist you must continue doing CPD during the time you are off the Dentists Register as you will need to submit evidence of CPD if you wish to restore your name. Please visit our CPD pages for more information.

If you are considering making an application for the Specialist Lists, you must retain your name on the Dentists Register.

Please accept our sympathy at this difficult time. To avoid causing further upset we would like to make sure we don't send any further letters or mailings, so please can you phone us on 0845 222 4141 so we can take action now.

We will need a certified copy of the death certificate so we can amend the Register, please send us a certified copy, together with a covering letter, to this address:

Registration Team
General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street
London
W1G 8DQ

Once we have amended the register, we will write to you confirming the action we have taken.

We can refund the 2008 retention fee under the following circumstances:

* if the deceased did not practise at all in 2008, and
* your letter requesting a refund is received by us on or before 31 January 2008.

Unfortunately no refunds will be made after this date.

If you would like to request a refund of the 2008 retention fee, please include the following details in your covering letter:

* a request that a refund of the fee be sent to the deceased's solicitor,
* a statement confirming that the deceased did not practise at all in 2008, and
* the name and address of the deceased's solicitor.

We can refund the fee under the following circumstances:

* if you did not practise at all in 2008, and
* your letter requesting a refund is received by us on or before 31 January 2008.

Unfortunately no refunds will be made after this date.

If you would like to request a refund of the fee, please write to the address below. Include the following details in your covering letter:

* details of your illness and its impact on your ability to practise
* a request that the fee you have paid be refunded
* a statement confirming that you did not practise at all in 2008

Please return your annual practising certificate if you have already received it. We must receive the certificate before we can issue a refund.

Income Collection Team
General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street
London
W1G 8DQ

You can pay your ARF by card by phone on 0845 222 4141.

The reason that you did not receive your ARF notice and payment form may be because we don't have the correct registered address for you.

Please check your registered address either on-line or on the telephone whilst paying your fee. It is important that you keep your registered address up to date so letters like the ARF notice and your Annual Practising Certificate reach you.

Throughout the year you can check your registered address by searching for your entry in the on-line registers on our site.

Before 31 December you will need to pay the specialist ARF of £52 for each specialty you wish to renew. If you have received your certificate, you will need to return it to us so we can issue an updated one.

Please write to us at the address below enclosing payment for the renewal of your specialty. Remember to return your certificate, if you have already received it.

After 31 December you will need to pay the specialist ARF of £52 and the restoration fee of £13 for each specialty you wish to restore. If you have received your certificate, you will need to return it to us so we can issue an updated one.

Please write to us at the address below enclosing payment for the reinstatement of your specialty. Remember to return your certificate, if you have already received it.

Registration Team
General Dental Council
37 Wimpole Street
London
W1G 8DQ

We want to keep costs down for registrants. Currently it is most cost effective for us to collect fees in one single payment and post out practising certificates in one go. However, we are looking at options for the future.

Being on the register is about being fit to practise. We are not able to adjust the fee according to applicants’ employment circumstances, so there is no reduction if you work part-time.

The first ARF for dental nurses and dental technicians is due in July 2009. The application fee that they pay to register for the first time during the transitional period (31 July 2006 to 30 July 2008) also covers them for their first year of compulsory registration. This means that they do not have to pay anything else until July 2009.

The GDC is funded by registrants' fees. Our financial objective remains to ensure that our resources are used economically and efficiently.

Dealing with complaints against registrants or, more specifically, the small number which reach a formal public hearing, and the legal costs this entails, is our biggest expense. While this involves only a tiny minority of registrants (0.5% of registrants in 2005), this is where the majority of our expenditure goes.

The Council's accounts are published annually and are available on our website.

The fees are reviewed by the Finance and Human Resources Committee on an annual basis. Any proposed revisions to the fees will be presented to the Council at its September meeting next year.

Our role is to protect the public. We offer the Specialists Lists as a service, to help patients, and others, identify dentists with specialist dental skills.

We are introducing these fees to cover the cost of maintaining these Lists and providing both a telephone and e-mail enquiry service for the many people who contact us wanting to find dental specialists. Previously all registrants would have supported these costs through their application and annual retention fees, which is, arguably, unfair.

From 1 January 2008 first listing fees will apply to all twelve Lists. All specialists applying on or after 1 January 2008 will be charged a first listing fee. Applications received before 31 December 2007 will not be subject to the new fee.

The specialist annual retention fee is a stand alone fee per list of £52. Specialists can choose whether to retain their name in each list independently.

Your ARF Notice we send to you at your registered address on or around 9 November will quote your specialties and ask you to confirm which specialites you wish to maintain.

If you pay your ARF by direct debit, it is important that you respond to the ARF notice straight telling us which specialites you wish to maintain so we can make sure we claim the correct amount based on your response.