Our 2023 annual registration and fitness to practise statistical reports

Today we have published our annual registration and fitness to practise statistical reports for 2023. Both reports include comparison data from previous years to show trends and changes over time.

The Registration Statistical Report 2023 provides a detailed overview of dental professionals’ registration activity.  It includes data on the number of dental professionals on the register, registration trends, and professionals’ demographic profiles including details on gender, age and ethnicity.

The Fitness to Practise Statistical Report 2023 details the key activities and outcomes related to fitness to practise cases. It includes information on the types and sources of concerns raised, demographic profiles of dental professionals involved, and the outcomes of the investigations. The report also provides a fitness to practise ‘considerations’ profile which is a high-level summary of the types of allegations raised for cases reaching a hearing.

Key statistics from the registration report:

• There was a 3.9% increase in the total number of dental professionals on the register, growing from 115,541 at the end of 2022 to 120,030 at the end of 2023.
  
  
• The number of dentists on the register increased by 2.4%, while the total number of Dental Care Professionals (DCPs) saw a 4.9% rise in 2023.
  
  
• The GDC processed 11,476 registration applications from the UK and overseas in 2023, marking a significant increase from the previous peak of 8,979 applications in 2015.
  
  
• On 31 December 2023, the register contained 45,204 dentists (38%) and 74,826 DCPs (62%). Among DCPs, dental nurses represent the largest group with 61,774 registrations, followed by dental hygienists, dental therapists, dental technicians, orthodontic therapists and clinical dental technicians.
  

Key statistics from the Fitness to Practise report:

• The number of new concerns received increased slightly to 1,297 in 2023 from 1,264 in 2022.
  
  
• The proportion of cases closed without further action rose to 35% in 2023, up from 26% in 2022, indicating more concerns were resolved early without the need for formal proceedings.
  
  
• Cases closed with advice increased to 14%, compared to 11% in 2022. Cases closed with a warning slightly decreased to 14%, down from 15% in the previous year.
  
  
• There was a 15% drop in the number of cases referred to a Practice Committee for hearings – 132 in 2023 compared to 156 in 2022.
  

You can find the full reports on our Registration and Fitness to Practise pages.