The Dentists Act 1984 makes it an offence for a person who is not a registered dentist or a registered dental care professional to practise dentistry, or hold themselves out - whether directly or by implication - as practising or as being prepared to practise dentistry.

Currently dentists, dental hygienists and dental therapists are registered with the Council. The Dental Care Professionals Register opened on 31 July 2006. The following groups are also able to apply for registration with the Council.

• Dental Nurses
• Dental Technicians
• Clinical Dental Technicians
• Dental Therapists

All registrants are individually accountable to the Council, and dentists are additionally accountable as leaders of the team.

The Dentists and Dental Care Professionals Registers enable patients to identify those people who are properly qualified to practise dentistry. We can prosecute people who practise dentistry without being registered with us and we are committed to protecting the public by bringing cases of illegal practice to Court.

We need evidence of an offence before we can proceed with a prosecution. In practice, we rely on information from others (particularly patients) regarding illegal practice taking place. We then ask our solicitors to investigate. After making every effort to obtain sufficient evidence, the case proceeds to the local Magistrates Court. This means cases are decided by a Magistrate without a jury. The illegal practice of dentistry is a criminal offence and the Court can impose a fine in the case of a successful prosecution.

Illegal practice and dental technicians

Following the opening of the DCP register, all GDC registrants will be legally exempt from the criminal ban on the practice of dentistry by lay people. Clinical practice by GDC registrants will be regulated, as it is now for dentists, by educational curricula, professional standards and fitness to practise procedures.

So if a GDC registered dental technician works clinically with a patient they would be liable to fitness to practise proceedings, by reason of having practised beyond their established competence.

Clinical Dental Technician qualifications will need to be approved by the GDC in order to be registrable. Once such qualifications are in place, student Clinical Dental Technicians on recognised courses will be able to practise as such under full supervision, exclusively as part of the training requirements for the qualification. Registered dental technicians undertaking such qualifications may of course continue to work (non-clinically) as dental technicians during their training.