New data reveals how over 56,000 dental care professionals work across the UK
The General Dental Council (GDC) has published working patterns data from 56,184 dental care professionals (DCPs) – 70% of the DCP register – providing valuable insights into how dental professionals work across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
The data, collected since the DCP working patterns survey launched in June 2024, shows that 56,032 DCPs are currently working or looking for work in the dental sector. The responses represent 63,968 professional titles (70% of all registered DCP titles), helping to inform workforce planning across the dental sector.
This is the second year the GDC has collected this data, reinforcing the regulator’s commitment to inform discussions about future workforce planning. As part of their annual renewal, the GDC asked DCPs to complete a short voluntary survey on how they work, where they work and how long they work for each week.
Key findings about the responding DCPs include:
- Clinical focus: 87% were doing some clinical work, with nearly half (48%) working in fully clinical roles
- Working hours: 94% were working less than 40 hours a week, with nearly half (49%) working between 30 and 40 hours
- NHS and private care: Over a third (36%) said they delivered a mix of NHS and private care, while over a quarter (26%) were spending at least 75% of their time delivering NHS care. More than a third (36%) were spending at least 75% of their time delivering private care
- Dental nurses dominate: More than three-quarters (77%) had dental nurse as their primary field of practice, followed by dental hygienists (10%)
- Employment varies by role: Nearly four-fifths (79%) were employed, though this varies significantly by role – with 65% of dental therapists and 68% dental hygienists being self-employed
- Dental setting: Nearly two-thirds (65%) stated ‘general dental practice’. The next most frequently mentioned setting was ‘specialist dental practice’ (12%). For orthodontic therapists the most common dental setting was ‘specialist dental practice’ (64%), and for dental technicians the most common setting was ‘laboratory’ (67%).
- Place of work: More than three-quarters (77%) stated they worked in one place of work, 14% said they worked in two workplaces, and 8% said they worked in more than two workplaces. Dental hygienists and dental therapists reported commonly working in two (39% and 38% respectively) places of work.
- Location: The majority (82%) said they worked in England, followed by Scotland (10%), Wales (5%) and Northern Ireland (3%)
The data reveals significant variations between DCP roles. For example, 61% of clinical dental technicians provide fully private care, and only 20% of dental therapists provide fully or predominantly NHS care. Meanwhile, 64% of orthodontic therapists work in specialist dental practices, while 45% of clinical dental technicians work in laboratories.
Theresa Thorp, Executive Director of Regulation at the GDC, said: “This is our second year collecting the working patterns data, and with a 70% response rate, we’re building a robust picture of how dental professionals work across the UK – from the diversity of employment patterns across different roles, to the balance of clinical and non-clinical work, and the mix of NHS and private care delivery.
“By continuing to build this picture, we are providing the sector with the transparent data it needs to make informed decisions about workforce planning, ultimately supporting better patient care. We’re grateful to the dental professionals who participated and the organisations that encouraged their members to take part.”
The dataset is cumulative, including all responses since the questions were first introduced, with the most recent answers reported.
The data and a summary document are available on the GDC website.
ADG welcomes new GDC dental workforce data
The Association of Dental Groups (ADG), the trade body representing members’ whole dental workforce across the ‘mixed economy’ of NHS, Private and Community-based services, welcomes the release by the General Dental Council (GDC) of the latest data on working patterns across the dental team.
With the recent call for evidence for the NHS 10 Year Workforce Plan (10YHP) and the consultation process underway, this fresh data will help the ADG provide expertise. The Association’s focus is on putting in place a sustainable workforce model in line with the NHS’s shift from hospital to community, from analogue to digital, and from sickness to prevention whilst also reflecting the ‘mixed economy’.
Neil Carmichael, Executive Chair, Association of Dental Groups said: “These figures provided today by the GDC will help to fine-tune our current understanding of dental team workforce patterns. Being able to identify challenges will enable us to plan, meaning that the input we give for the NHS 10 Year Workforce Plan will be better informed. Across the four nations we have massive gaps in dental teams currently and we have to get this new plan right to fill this void and improve patient access – not only for NHS dentistry but also in the private sector.
“DCPs play such a vital role in patient care, particularly since every appointment with a dentist, has to have a dental nurse present. So, when you add the number of over 2,700 dentist vacancies to a similar deficit in DCPs, we are looking at a gap in the workforce that is short of over 5,000 dental professionals across the NHS and Private sectors.
“Our concern is also that with only 0.8% of dentists actively looking for work, and just 1.5% of DCPs seeking employment, we don’t have a UK workforce lining up to take these jobs on. This is why the ADG has been repeating and repeating the message about the importance of sorting out the bottleneck in the Overseas Registration Examination System, so that in the short term we can put to work the trained international dentists who are ready to care for patients here in the UK, whilst looking at the longer-term workforce needs and strategies.
“The ADG looks forward to hearing about the forthcoming GDC plan to deal with the massive backlog of applications by international students and dentists to join the GDC’s register of approved dentists. This was requested by Stephen Kinnock, Minister of State for Health and Social Care, and is now already a week late. Such a plan would help to give clarity to the sector and hope for the legions of patients waiting for access to a dentist.”
