When Does a Dentist Need a GDC Ethics Course?

Written and reviewed by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, MBBS, MRCS, MRCGP, Postgraduate Certificate in Healthcare Law and Ethics · Updated 6 November 2026

When does a dentist need a GDC ethics course?

Some GDC concerns are about a skill: a restoration that failed, a diagnosis missed. Others are about a choice: what you told a patient, whose interest came first, how you treated a colleague. An ethics course answers the second kind, for example when:

• a patient says they were urged to choose private treatment, or the cost was not made clear;
• a record, a claim or a statement is said to be inaccurate;
• a complaint says you treated a patient unfairly or without respect;
• a boundary with a patient or a colleague is said to have been crossed, at work or online.

What do the GDC’s standards say about ethics?

The GDC has no separate ethics code. Its ethics sit in the Standards for the Dental Team, in effect from 30 September 2013, which set out “the standards of conduct, performance and ethics that govern you as a dental professional”. Two of the nine principles hold the ethical standards:

• Principle 1, Put patients’ interests first: “You must be honest and act with integrity” (1.3); treat patients fairly and without discrimination (1.6); and put patients’ interests before your own “or those of any colleague, business or organisation” (1.7), including “any financial, personal or other gain” (1.7.1).
• Principle 9, personal behaviour: conduct at work and in your personal life that justifies patients’ trust (9.1), respect for colleagues (9.1.1), and professional boundaries with patients (9.1.4).

From 2 June to 31 August 2026 the GDC consulted on replacing these standards with a Framework for Professionalism. It is a proposal; the nine principles remain the published standards.

Where an ethics course counts in the GDC process

The GDC describes three stages: an initial assessment, an investigation, and the case examiners stage, with the Interim Orders Committee able to act at any stage where there may be a serious or immediate risk.

When a case is referred to the case examiners, the GDC sets out the allegations and gives you 28 days as the standard time to comment. A clinical and a lay case examiner decide whether there is “a real prospect of the allegations being proved” and whether your fitness to practise is currently impaired. Your comments, with the certificate and your reflection, are what they read from you.

If a practice committee hears the case, the GDC’s guidance for the practice committees (in effect from 6 January 2026) counts “reflective writing” and “evidence of learning undertaken” as remedial action (paragraph 233). Who can help when a letter arrives is in our guide to GDC investigation support.

What the dental ethics course covers

Seven sections and 19 lessons, written for the dental team: ethics in dentistry and the GDC’s role; the core principles of autonomy, beneficence, justice and confidentiality; honesty, candour and the written treatment plan; consent where options, cost and NHS or private care must be clear; boundaries with patients and with colleagues in a small practice; the breaches the GDC acts on and the steps to remediate; and a final assessment.

When a different course fits better

If the GDC’s letter names one subject, start with the course on that subject:

• your honesty in a record, a claim or a declaration: Probity for Healthcare Professionals;
• a boundary with a patient or a colleague, including messages and social media: Professional Boundaries for Clinicians.

The full map from each principle to a course is in our GDC courses guide.

Counting a GDC ethics course as verifiable CPD

Dentists need at least 100 hours of CPD in a five-year cycle, with at least 10 verifiable hours in any two consecutive years. Legal and ethical issues is one of the topics on the GDC’s CPD topics page. Link the course to development outcome D, on behaviours that “maintain patient confidence in you and the dental professions”, and keep the certificate as your evidence.

Also read: Should a Dentist Do a GDC Consent Course After a Complaint?.

Our GDC ethics course, for a concern and for CPD

Courses that sit beside it

Bulk Buy covers the £79 courses: 3 for £200, 5 for £300, 10 for £500. Not sure what to take? Book a free 15-minute call or see which course do I need.

This guide is part of our Professional Misconduct hub, which brings together every Probity & Ethics guide and course on the subject.

The CPD courses linked from this guide, Ethics and Ethical Standards for Dentists & Dental Professionals, Probity for Healthcare Professionals, Professional Boundaries for Clinicians and Module on Reflection, are by Probity & Ethics, written by Dr Shehzad Iqbal, CPD certified and accredited by The CPD Certification Service (provider no. 13197) and offered since 2020.

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