At the moment, our register gives patients assurance that:

• each registrant is qualified; and
• we have not had a reason to find the registrant unfit to practise because of their behaviour, poor health or poor performance; and
• dentists are keeping up-to-date through compulsory CPD
• Dental Care Professionals will start compulsory CPD from 1 August 2008.

But as well as being confident that their dental professional is keeping their knowledge up-to-date, patients also need to know that their dentist or dental care professional is meeting the standards needed to stay on our registers. These are set out in our guidance Standards for dental professionals.

Revalidation will not only mean that dental professionals have to show us that their knowledge is up-to-date, but that they also have to show us that they are competent to practise in their area of work.

The work of the Council on developing a revalidation scheme is being taken forward by a Revalidation Working Group. The Group is committed to these objectives and principles in developing revalidation:

1. The objective of revalidation is to give reassurance to patients and the public that dental professionals are regularly required to demonstrate that they meet a satisfactory standard to maintain their registration with the GDC;
2. The GDC will take the views of patients into account when developing revalidation;
3. The GDC aims to develop a process which requires:
   • all dental professionals to demonstrate on a regular basis that they meet the standards required for continued registration;
   • registrants to demonstrate competence in performance, as well as knowledge, in the field(s) of practice in which they perform;
4. The GDC will set the standards against which registrants must demonstrate their suitability for continued registration
5. The product of revalidation will be a binary decision; either the dental professional is revalidated or (s)he is not:
6. The GDC will not delegate revalidation to employers or commissioners of services;
7. The GDC will adopt the following principles in developing revalidation:

• the process should be proportionate to the problem it seeks to address;
• the process will not place burdens upon registrants except in so far as it is necessary to protect the public interest;
• use will be made of existing or forthcoming local quality assurance mechanisms and locally gathered evidence wherever possible and appropriate;
• revalidation will be as simple and flexible as possible;
• the GDC will develop revalidation in partnership with stakeholders, including professional associations, employers, government (including the devolved administrations);
• wherever possible and appropriate the GDC will seek to develop a process which is consistent in approach to systems being developed for other healthcare professionals;
• the GDC will identify and seek to mitigate any equality and diversity implications arising from the development of revalidation;
• revalidation should be both a formative and summative process;
• all dental professionals should be revalidated to stay on the register. There may be variation in the intensity, frequency or content of revalidation required of individuals, according to what is proportionate in terms of public protection.

 If you have any questions about revalidation, or wish to contribute your views on development of the revalidation scheme, please contact revalidation@gdc-uk.org or telephone us on 020 7887 3819.