A dentist who reads guidance written for doctors will recognise the shape of a fitness to practise case. There is a concern, an investigation, a decision by case examiners and, in a minority of cases, a hearing. The General Dental Council's process follows that pattern, but its stages, its committees and its timings are its own. Prepare on the assumption that GDC fitness to practise mirrors the GMC, and you will miss things that matter.
Four stages, not three
The GDC describes its process in four stages in its Fitness to Practise Statistical Report 2025: initial assessment, assessment, case examiners and hearings.
Initial assessment screens every concern. The GDC closes some and passes others to the NHS or another body. In 2025 the GDC closed 19% of new concerns at this stage, more than in any of the previous four years. The rest move to assessment, where caseworkers gather information. They decide whether the concern raises an allegation that your fitness to practise may be impaired. This is the stage where the time goes. The average time to complete it was 78 working weeks in 2025, against 76 in 2024, although the GDC reports one improvement. A streamlined route for concerns about a single patient's clinical care cut the time for those cases from 30 weeks to 16.
Cases that pass assessment go to a pair of case examiners. One is a lay person and the other a dentist or dental care professional. According to the GDC's panel guidance, they do not decide whether the allegations are true. They ask whether there is a real prospect of the allegation being proved and, if proved, of it showing that your fitness to practise may be impaired. They can close the case, give advice, issue a warning, agree undertakings with you or refer the case for a hearing.
Three committees, chosen by the type of case
A doctor's case goes to a Medical Practitioners Tribunal. A dental case goes to one of three Practice Committees: the Professional Conduct Committee, the Professional Performance Committee or the Health Committee. The choice of committee follows the nature of the concern, and each has its own range of outcomes. For example, the GDC's report explains that the Health Committee may impose conditions for up to 36 months. It may also impose a suspension for up to 12 months. The GDC's Fitness to Practise Panel supplies the members of all three committees, and of the Interim Orders Committee.
If the case examiners refer your case, the framing of the allegation decides which committee hears it. That in turn affects the evidence you need. A performance case turns on the standard of your work over time. A conduct case turns on what you did and why. In a health case, the question is your current fitness and the support around you. So it is worth making early representations on how the GDC should characterise the concern.
Interim orders are becoming more common
The Interim Orders Committee can suspend your registration or impose conditions while the investigation continues, and a referral can happen at any stage. In 2025 the GDC referred 149 registrants to it, more than in any of the previous three years. Of those referrals, 70% ended with an order, up from 62% in 2024. The most common type referred combined clinical and conduct concerns, and 83% of those cases resulted in an order. The average time from the decision to refer to the first hearing was 19 days. You will have little time to prepare, so if the GDC tells you it is considering a referral, act that day.
The numbers in context
The GDC reported 1,766 concerns in 2025, a rise of 26% on the year before. Patients raised 45% of them. Dentists were the subject of 77% of concerns, dental care professionals the remaining 23%. For every 100 cases received, 81 went to assessment, 34 to case examiners and 15 to a Practice Committee. The GDC removed 18 dental professionals from the register, the same number as in 2024. The report's own foreword accepts that investigations can take too long and feel overly complex. It also accepts that this leads to mistrust, a sense of unfairness and fear of the process and of the GDC.
Those figures show that most cases end before a hearing. They also show that a case which reaches the hearing stage has passed several filters. By then the GDC has decided it carries a real prospect of a finding against you.
Indemnity covers your patients, not your defence
Every dental professional must have appropriate indemnity or insurance before practising. Each must also declare it on registration and at each annual renewal. The GDC's indemnity guidance is precise about the purpose. The requirement exists so that a harmed patient can obtain compensation. According to the GDC, your own policy may provide cover for your legal costs in a fitness to practise hearing. But it does not require this. If you rely on your employer's policy, you are responsible for checking that it covers all your work. A false declaration about indemnity can itself become a fitness to practise matter.
Ask your provider now whether your cover includes representation before the GDC, and at which stages.
Your reflections
The GDC is one of nine regulators that have committed not to ask for your personal written reflections when investigating a concern. You can choose to offer them as evidence of insight. If you decide to, with advice, offer them with proof of any training you have completed. Do so before the case examiners decide, while the case can still close without a hearing.
Eloquia acts for dentists before the GDC on our GDC page, part of our track for other healthcare professionals, on the same fixed fee terms as for doctors. We quote a fixed fee for each stage before it starts, stated plus VAT, and that fee includes a specialist barrister whom we involve from the outset. We quote expert fees separately, and our fees and funding page explains how staged payment works.
