CPD courses for dentists and dental care professionals,
including those facing a GDC investigation.
Ethics and Professionalism for dentists and dental care professionals, plus our full Fitness to Practise series, built around the GDC's Standards for the Dental Team, every course reviewed by qualified professionals. More courses across Probity, Professionalism and Boundaries are on the way.
What brings you here today?
Ethics & Professionalism for Dentists & DCPs
Ethics & Ethical Standards for Dentists & Dental Care Professionals
What it covers
For Dentists and DCPs wanting genuine ethical reasoning, not medical ethics with the job title changed
Consent for necessary and elective treatment, including cosmetic dentistry and cost transparency
Confidentiality, dental records, and the duty of candour
Probity and financial integrity in NHS and private billing
Professionalism & Professional Standards for Dentists & Dental Care Professionals
What it covers
For Dentists and DCPs wanting the standing discipline side of the GDC's standards, done properly
Scope of practice across the dental team, CPD, and safe delegation
Clear communication, handling complaints properly, and working with colleagues
Raising concerns in a small practice, confidentiality, and online conduct
Every course relevant to GDC-registered dentists & DCPs
Fitness to Practise is live now and regulator-neutral. Probity & Honesty, Professionalism, and Boundaries courses are in development, select a tab to see what's coming.
Fitness to Practise — What You Need to Know
For Dentists and DCPs who want to understand the GDC process before or during an investigation
- How a regulator typically triages, investigates and refers concerns to a fitness to practise panel
- What a regulator needs to see at each stage to resolve or close a case
Insight — Understanding Your Mistakes
For Doctors facing a GMC concern, at revalidation, or wanting to understand what the MPTS assesses most
- Apply the four-pillar framework fitness to practise panels use in every case
- Write a reflective account that holds up at a hearing or at appraisal
- Avoid the six reflection failures that undermine even well-intentioned accounts
Reflection — Learning from Your Practice
For Doctors building revalidation portfolios or required to evidence reflective practice
- Produce structured reflections that satisfy GDC appraisers
- Use Gibbs' cycle to write accounts that demonstrate genuine learning
Remediation — Demonstrating Change
For Doctors who need to show a regulator or employer that genuine change has happened
- Build a remediation plan connected directly to the actual root cause
- Gather the specific evidence a panel actually looks for, not just good intentions
How to Ensure a Similar Mistake Won't Happen Again
For Doctors who want to demonstrate systemic learning, not just a one-off fix
- Identify the root-cause conditions behind a recurring type of error
- Show a panel or employer that the fix addresses the system, not just the incident
How to Deal with a Complaint
For Doctors navigating an active complaint, from a patient or through their employer
- Understand each stage of a complaints process and what's expected at each
- Draft an honest, well-judged response that doesn't make things worse
How to Avoid a Complaint
For Doctors wanting to reduce the risk of a complaint before one ever happens
- Recognise the communication patterns behind most GDC complaints
- Apply specific, practical changes to how you handle difficult conversations
What's actually going on for you?
Four common situations, and exactly which courses address each one directly.
I've received a letter from the GDC
Understand what's actually happening, what the process looks like, and how to start building genuine insight and reflection.
A scope of practice or delegation concern has been raised
Work through consent, safe delegation across the dental team, and the ethical reasoning behind real dental treatment decisions.
I need to show I've genuinely changed
Build a remediation plan connected directly to the actual cause, with concrete, evidenced steps you've already taken to address it.
I'm just preparing for appraisal or revalidation
No active concern, just genuine, substantive CPD covering the GDC's nine standards between our Ethics and Professionalism courses.
What makes our GDC courses different from generic CPD
Built directly against the GDC's standards
Every lesson maps to a specific standard and cites Standards for the Dental Team's actual wording, not a generic ethics framework relabelled for dentistry.
Reviewed by qualified professionals
Every course is read in full for clinical accuracy, regulatory alignment, and real-world applicability before it goes live.
Genuine worked cases, not abstract theory
Every module closes with a real, multi-step case that ties the domain's principles to an actual clinical or workplace decision.
Certificate that means something
Issued only on passing the final assessment at 80%. Suitable for appraisal and revalidation portfolios.
Buy any 3, 5, or 10 courses, your choice, any area
No fixed packages. Pick exactly what's relevant, and the discount applies automatically at checkout.
From choosing a course to holding your certificate
A straightforward process, whether you're building an appraisal portfolio or responding to a live concern.
Choose your courses
Use the concern-type filter above, or browse the full catalogue and add whatever's relevant.
Complete at your own pace
Fully online, available immediately after enrolling. One sitting or several.
Pass the final assessment
Score 80% or higher to unlock your certificate. Retakes are unlimited.
Download your certificate
Ready immediately, showing the course title, CPD hours, and your name.
GDC courses — common questions
The questions dentists and dental care professionals most commonly search or ask about this curriculum.
I've received a letter from the GDC — what should I do first?
Contact your defence organisation or professional indemnity provider (Dental Protection, DDU, or similar) immediately if you haven't already. Alongside their advice, beginning relevant CPD is a genuine, proactive step, but it doesn't replace professional legal or regulatory advice specific to your case.
Will completing these courses help my GDC case?
They'll give you a genuine, documented account of professional learning relevant to the concern raised, useful supporting evidence for your own remediation statement or appraisal portfolio. We can't promise a specific outcome from your case, and we're not a substitute for advice from your defence organisation or solicitor.
What's the difference between a GDC concern, complaint, and formal investigation?
A concern or complaint is typically the GDC's initial review of information they've received. Not every concern becomes a formal fitness to practise investigation, many are resolved or closed at an early stage. If yours has progressed to a formal investigation, your defence organisation can explain exactly where you are in the process and what happens next.
Do these courses count towards GDC CPD requirements?
Yes. Every course provides documented CPD hours with a certificate on completion, suitable evidence for your revalidation portfolio.
How quickly can I start, and how fast can I get a certificate?
Access is immediate after enrolling. Each course takes roughly 1.5 to 2.5 hours depending on the course, so you can realistically complete one and hold a certificate the same day.
What does the GDC actually mean by "insight"?
Insight means genuinely understanding what went wrong, your own part in it, who was affected, and demonstrating concrete change, not simply expressing regret. Our Insight — Understanding Your Mistakes course works through this specific framework in depth, since it's consistently the factor fitness to practise panels weigh most heavily.
Should I take Ethics or Professionalism first?
Either stands alone. If a specific ethical dilemma, consent, confidentiality, honesty, is on your mind, start with Ethics. If your situation is more about competence, culture, or conduct, start with Professionalism. Most dentists and DCPs get the most value from both, since together they cover all nine of the GDC's standards.
I work across more than one regulator, is this still relevant?
Yes. Fitness to Practise, Probity & Honesty, Professionalism, and Boundaries courses on this page are regulator-neutral, built for the standards every UK regulator shares. If you're also registered with the GMC, NMC, GPhC, HCPC, GOC, GCC, or GOsC, that regulator has its own Ethics and Professionalism pair alongside this same shared library.
Are these courses suitable if I'm not currently facing any concern?
Absolutely. Most dentists and DCPs who take these courses are building CPD for their annual cycle, preparing for a CQC inspection, or simply want a genuine refresher on the GDC's standards, not responding to an active case.
Is there an assessment for each course?
Yes. Each course has short knowledge checks plus a final assessment, requiring 80% to pass and unlock your certificate. Retakes are unlimited.
How is CrownEthics different from other GDC course providers?
Every course is built directly against the GDC's Standards for the Dental Team, not a generic ethics framework relabelled for dentistry, and reviewed in full by qualified professionals before publishing. We'd rather have fewer, genuinely substantive courses than a large catalogue of thin ones.
Can my practice enrol multiple dentists or team members at once?
Yes. We offer team access and bulk pricing for dental practices and organisations, with an individual certificate issued for everyone who completes each course. Contact us for organisation-level enrolment, or visit CrownEthics to see everything we offer across every regulator.
We'll email you when it launches
Usually with an early-access discount for people on the list.
