GDC CPD Requirements: Planning Your Orthodontic Team’s Annual Programme

An orthodontist (registered with the GDC as a dentist or dental specialist) must complete 100 CPD hours over each five-year cycle under the GDC Enhanced CPD scheme. Of these 100 hours, a minimum of 10 must be verifiable CPD — activities confirmed by a third party with a certificate stating the provider, topic, hours, and date. The remaining 90 hours can be non-verifiable CPD such as reading journals, reviewing clinical guidelines, or peer discussion, supported by reflective notes.

The GDC’s Enhanced CPD scheme requires all dental registrants to cover four mandatory topic areas in every five-year CPD cycle: medical emergencies (with a minimum of 10 CPD hours recommended for dentists), disinfection and decontamination, radiography and radiation protection, and medical conditions relevant to dentistry. These topics must be covered regardless of specialty or clinical scope — an orthodontist who does not take radiographs in their own practice still needs to include radiography and radiation protection in their CPD. Failure to cover the mandatory topics makes the entire CPD record non-compliant.

Failure to complete the required CPD hours and mandatory topics, or failure to maintain verifiable records, places a GDC registrant’s registration at risk. The GDC’s annual registration renewal process includes a declaration of CPD compliance — making a false declaration is itself a Fitness to Practise concern. The GDC can audit registrants’ CPD records and, where non-compliance is found, can commence Fitness to Practise proceedings. In serious cases — deliberate non-compliance or false declarations — this can result in conditions on registration, suspension, or erasure.

Practice principals cannot access their employees’ GDC CPD records directly — CPD records are held by the individual registrant, not the practice. However, as part of staff management and clinical governance, it is good practice to require each team member to provide annual confirmation that their CPD is on track, and to review their CPD certificates as part of regular appraisals. The GDC’s public register shows whether each registrant’s registration is current — which confirms they have made their annual declaration — but not the detail of their CPD records.

An orthodontist (registered with the GDC as a dentist or dental specialist) must complete 100 CPD hours over each five-year cycle under the GDC Enhanced CPD scheme. Of these 100 hours, a minimum of 10 must be verifiable CPD — activities confirmed by a third party with a certificate stating the provider, topic, hours, and date. The remaining 90 hours can be non-verifiable CPD such as reading journals, reviewing clinical guidelines, or peer discussion, supported by reflective notes.

The GDC’s Enhanced CPD scheme requires all dental registrants to cover four mandatory topic areas in every five-year CPD cycle: medical emergencies (with a minimum of 10 CPD hours recommended for dentists), disinfection and decontamination, radiography and radiation protection, and medical conditions relevant to dentistry. These topics must be covered regardless of specialty or clinical scope — an orthodontist who does not take radiographs in their own practice still needs to include radiography and radiation protection in their CPD. Failure to cover the mandatory topics makes the entire CPD record non-compliant.

Failure to complete the required CPD hours and mandatory topics, or failure to maintain verifiable records, places a GDC registrant’s registration at risk. The GDC’s annual registration renewal process includes a declaration of CPD compliance — making a false declaration is itself a Fitness to Practise concern. The GDC can audit registrants’ CPD records and, where non-compliance is found, can commence Fitness to Practise proceedings. In serious cases — deliberate non-compliance or false declarations — this can result in conditions on registration, suspension, or erasure.

Practice principals cannot access their employees’ GDC CPD records directly — CPD records are held by the individual registrant, not the practice. However, as part of staff management and clinical governance, it is good practice to require each team member to provide annual confirmation that their CPD is on track, and to review their CPD certificates as part of regular appraisals. The GDC’s public register shows whether each registrant’s registration is current — which confirms they have made their annual declaration — but not the detail of their CPD records.