A view from the Chair: understanding the dental workforce; insights into working patterns and fitness to practise; proposals for a new Framework of Professionalism

Understanding the dental workforce

The Registration report for 2025 shows the number and proportions of dental professionals on and joining the register last year, including data about sex, age and ethnicity. This report generated a lot of interest. It showed that internationally qualified dentists outnumbered UK-qualified dentists joining the register last year, 53% compared to 47%. The data also showed that despite overall growth, the number of dental technicians dropped for the sixth consecutive year, falling below 5,000 for the first time. These facts are important in themselves for dental professionals and those involved in workforce planning. 

The dental register is predominantly female, with 78% of all dental professionals identifying as female, including 54% of dentists and 92% of dental care professionals. For six of the seven dental professions last year, the proportion of females joining the register was greater than the proportion of males. The exception was clinical dental technicians where the proportions were equal, at 50:50.

Insights into working patterns and fitness to practise

Since 2024, we have gathered and shared information about working patterns of dental professionals. More than 91,000 dental professionals have provided their information since then, on a voluntary basis. This has contributed to a wider understanding of the whole picture and we thank everyone who has responded.

The insights have illustrated the proportion of time spent delivering NHS or private care, helped the sector to understand geographical issues with access to dental services, and been used to illustrate workforce challenges in relation to oral health needs in parts of the UK. You can find out more about how this data has been used and the value it brings on our website.

This week, we’ve shared our annual report into fitness to practise (FtP) performance for 2025. For the first time, the report covers all four stages of the FtP process: initial assessment, assessment, case examiners, and hearings. It includes comparison data from previous years and breaks down cases by informant type, country, registrant type, sex, time on the register, region of qualification, and ethnicity. I’m pleased to see that we improved our performance in three of the four stages of the process, against a backdrop of receiving 26% more concerns in 2025 than in 2024. 

Improving our performance is important and positive, however we are clear that simply going faster on processing FtP investigations is not the answer. We know there is more to do and we are bringing together a programme of end-to-end improvements to investigations, challenging ourselves on timeliness, risk appetite and process improvements such as options to close cases earlier through less adversarial methods. 

Proposals for a new Framework for Professionalism

You have an important opportunity to shape our thinking about a new Framework for Professionalism which is now open for public consultation. The Framework has been developed as a result of much engagement with dental professionals and stakeholders. The aim is to make it easier to apply professional judgement confidently in practice, in patients’ best interests. The consultation closes on 31 August 2026 and we would appreciate your views and insights.