Welcome to Ethics & Ethical Standards for Dentists & Dental Care Professionals (GDC Ethics)

Ethics & Ethical Standards / Dentists & Dental Care Professionals (GDC)

Welcome to this course

Introduction7 min readClinically reviewed

This course is built around the GDC’s own Standards for the Dental Team, nine principles every dentist, dental nurse, hygienist, therapist, technician, and orthodontic therapist must meet. It doesn’t attempt to cover all nine in equal depth. It focuses on the principles that involve genuine ethical reasoning, consent, confidentiality, honesty, and patients’ interests coming first, leaving competence, communication mechanics, and complaints-handling to a separate Professionalism course.

Dentistry has ethical territory that’s genuinely its own. A private, fee-for-service funding model sitting alongside NHS provision creates financial pressures medicine rarely faces in the same way. Elective and cosmetic treatment is common, raising consent questions that don’t arise when treatment is purely necessary. This course is built around that real territory, not medical ethics with the word “dentist” substituted in.

By the end of this course you will be able to

  1. Apply the four ethical principles and the GDC’s Standard 1 to real dental decisions
  2. Obtain genuinely valid consent, including for cosmetic and elective treatment, and assess capacity in anxious or vulnerable patients
  3. Maintain confidentiality properly and meet the duty of candour when something has gone wrong
  4. Recognise and navigate the financial and commercial pressures distinct to dental practice
  5. Work through a genuine ethical dilemma using a structured method, applied to real dental cases

Who this is for

Any dentist or dental care professional registered with the GDC, at any career stage, in any setting, NHS or private practice, general or specialist. Especially relevant if you’re preparing for revalidation, want CPD that goes beyond generic ethics content, or have a specific consent, confidentiality, or probity question on your mind.

Please read this firstThis course explains professional standards and the reasoning behind them. It is not legal advice and does not replace representation. If a concern has been raised about your registration, speak to your defence organisation before you act.

Structure How this course is organised +

Five modules, four knowledge checks, and a final 15-question assessment. Score 80% to unlock your certificate.

  • Module 1 — the four principles, Standard 1, and what’s genuinely distinct about dental ethics
  • Module 2 — consent, cost transparency, cosmetic dentistry, and capacity
  • Module 3 — confidentiality, candour, and referrals
  • Module 4 — probity, billing, and commercial pressure
  • Module 5 — a structured method for dilemmas, with real dental cases

Around 2.5 hours in total, worth 2.5 CPD hours.

Pairs with Professionalism & Professional Standards for Dentists & DCPs (GDC) +

These two courses are designed as a pair covering the GDC’s nine principles between them, without duplicating each other. If the companion course isn’t live yet, this one still stands alone.

Setup for this course:

  • First lesson set as a sample lesson (visible before purchase).
  • Course points / CPD hours = 2.5 in the course meta.
  • Progression = Linear. Mark Complete enabled on every lesson.
  • Certificate triggers on final assessment pass at 80%.
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