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GDC website requirements: what a UK dental website must show

Last reviewed against the regulators’ own text, linked in the sources below.

This is general information, not legal advice.

On this page
  1. The must-haves
  2. Where each comes from
  3. How to check your site
  4. Sources

A UK dental website must show the practice's name and address, its contact details, a link to the GDC, the complaints procedure, the date the site was last updated, and each dental professional's qualification, country of qualification and GDC registration number. Those items come from the GDC's guidance on advertising.1 The GDC's Standards for the Dental Team add clear prices, and company law adds a few items for practices run as limited companies.

The checklist follows. What the GDC's advertising guidance says more broadly is on the page explaining GDC advertising guidance, and the other rulebooks are on the dental advertising rules hub. This is general information, not legal advice.

Few practices get all of it right. A 2021 study in the British Dental Journal checked 450 practices in the north east of England and North Cumbria and found "only seven websites (1.8%)" fully compliant with GDC advertising guidance.2

Practice web presence and GDC compliance, North East England and North Cumbria (2021 study)
ItemPercentage of 450 practices sampled
Had a website84.7
Had a Facebook page72.7
Had an Instagram account34
Website fully compliant with GDC guidance1.8

Source: Donnell, Woolley and Worthington, British Dental Journal, 25 March 2021. Accessed 1 October 2026.

The must-haves

  • Practice name and the geographic address where treatment is provided
  • Contact details, including an email address and a phone number
  • The GDC's address and contact details, or a link to the GDC website
  • The complaints procedure, and who patients can go to if they are not satisfied with the practice's response
  • The date the website was last updated
  • For each dental professional named: professional qualification, the country it comes from, and GDC registration number
  • Clear prices, without patients having to ask
  • If the practice is a limited company: full company name, registered number, registered office and where it's registered
  • Nothing that compares one professional's skills or qualifications with another's

Where each comes from

RequirementSourceWording at source
Name and addressGDC guidance on advertising1"the name and geographic address at which the dental service is provided"
Email and phoneGDC guidance on advertising1"contact details of the dental service, including e-mail address and telephone number"
GDC contact or linkGDC guidance on advertising1"the GDC's address and other contact details, or a link to the GDC website"
Complaints procedureGDC guidance on advertising1; GDC standard 5.13NHS body for NHS care, the Dental Complaints Service for private care
Last-updated dateGDC guidance on advertising1"the date the website was last updated"
Qualification, country, GDC numberGDC guidance on advertising1For each registrant named on the site
PricesGDC standard 2.4.24"patients should not have to ask for this information"
Company detailsCompany law, via GOV.UK5Registered number, registered office, where registered
CQC ratingCQC6Primary dental services are not rated, so there is usually nothing to display

The GDC's advertising guidance has been effective since 30 September 2013.1 It's old, but it's the version in force, and standard 1.3.3 of the Standards for the Dental Team requires advertising to comply with it.

On the complaints item, the guidance is specific about where patients go next: "the relevant NHS (or equivalent) body for NHS treatment and the Dental Complaints Service for private treatment".1 A mixed practice needs both. The GDC's complaints standard also says the procedure should be displayed "where patients can see it".3

On the CQC, primary dental services are on the CQC's list of services it doesn't rate, so the legal duty to display a rating doesn't usually apply to a dental practice.6 The CQC's position, and the optional "Regulated by" graphic, are on the page about the CQC and your marketing.

How to check your site

I check a practice site in this order.

  1. Footer first. Most of the fixed items belong in the site-wide footer, so one template change fixes every page.
  2. Team page second. Check that every registrant has a qualification, country and GDC number, including hygienists, therapists and associates who joined after the site was built.
  3. Verify numbers against the register. A mistyped number is easy to miss in-house, and patients can look it up.
  4. Check the last-updated date is real. A date that never changes, or a copyright year from years ago, tells patients the site isn't maintained.
  5. Search the site for comparisons and titles. Look for wording like "our best implant dentist" or "specialist" used by someone who isn't on a GDC specialist list.

If your site can't hold these without a rebuild, that is usually a sign the site needs work beyond compliance. I cover that on dental website design. If you want your site looked at against this list, email me at Fayez@imfayez.com. I run the first check free of charge, from the outside, against the public site, and reply with what I find. You can also read how I work.

Sources

  1. General Dental Council, "Guidance on advertising", effective from 30 September 2013. https://www.gdc-uk.org/standards-guidance/standards-and-guidance/gdc-guidance-for-dental-professionals/guidance-on-advertising (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9

  2. Donnell C.C., Woolley J.J., Worthington S.W., "Advertising and facial aesthetics in primary care: how compliant are practice websites and social media with published guidance?", British Dental Journal, published online 25 March 2021. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41415-021-2718-4 (abstract accessed 1 October 2026). ↩

  3. General Dental Council, Standards for the Dental Team, standard 5.1 and guidance. https://standards.gdc-uk.org/pages/principle5/principle5.aspx (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩ ↩2

  4. General Dental Council, Standards for the Dental Team, standards 2.4.1 and 2.4.2. https://standards.gdc-uk.org/pages/principle2/principle2.aspx (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩

  5. GOV.UK, "Running a limited company: signs, stationery and promotional material". https://www.gov.uk/running-a-limited-company/signs-stationery-and-promotional-material (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩

  6. Care Quality Commission, "How providers must display ratings", last updated 26 November 2025. https://www.cqc.org.uk/cqc-ratings-and-promotional-graphics/how-providers-must-display-ratings (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩ ↩2