Annual fees for General Dental Council registration are 45% and 48% higher than the equivalent charges for GPs and pharmacists respectively, a new analysis has found.

The analysis, by GDPUK’s publishers Cogora, has revealed that annual registration and retention fees for dentists is by a distance the highest among similar professions.

The annual fee for dentists is £698 per year compared with £481 for doctors as part of their General Medical Council registration, and £441 for pharmacists and the General Pharmaceutical Council.

The GDC says that the majority of its members are non-GDPs, and pay much lower fees, but adds that it has fewer professionals on its register yet has similar costs to other regulators.

However, the BDA says the GDC has long been an ‘outlier’ on fees.

The regulator made an effort to reduce fees after 2015-2019, when they were at a high of £890 per year. However, they still remain higher than any other regulator.

While the GDC had been striving to reduce fees – with a major reduction in 2024 – this year has seen them rise to their highest point since 2019, with a 12% rise this year.

A GDC spokesperson said: ‘Almost two thirds of GDC registrants – dental care professionals – pay an annual retention fee of £108. Dentists do pay more, which mainly reflects the higher costs of managing fitness to practise cases. Our register is smaller than other regulators, but we still carry significant fixed regulatory costs, and we are seeing a sustained rise in concerns.

‘Comparisons with other regulators need to take account of differences between professions. For example, responsible officers have an important role in supporting the fitness to practise of doctors but have no equivalent in dentistry.’

However, Dr Eddie Crouch, chair of the BDA said: ‘The GDC has long been an outlier on fees.

‘When dentists pay their ARF they deserve to see what any health professional needs from their regulator: efficiency and effectiveness.’

Helen Kaney, head of dental division at MDDUS, told GDPUK:  'Annual GDC fees represent a significant cost for dentists, so it is reasonable for registrants to expect a regulator that is efficient, proportionate and focused on the cases where there are genuine concerns about patient safety.

'With complaints continuing to rise, there is an even stronger case for ensuring lower-level concerns are resolved through local processes wherever appropriate, leaving the GDC to concentrate its resources on the most serious fitness to practise matters.

'For any dentist, becoming involved in a regulatory investigation can be extremely stressful. An approach that distinguishes quickly between serious concerns and issues that are better dealt with elsewhere benefits patients, registrants and the regulator alike.'

A freedom of information request from GDPUK found that the GDC has spent almost £400,000 on its credit card expenses accounts since 2023, which includes general sustenance but also some more upmarket restaurant meals and hotels, as well as team-building days.

The cards are mainly funded through the registration fees of dental professionals and according to the GDC’s policy, they are only meant to be used for official business and on items which are ‘value for money.’

Meanwhile, a separate FOI from GDPUK revealed that fitness-to-practise investigations are dragging on for up to nine years, which experts said was placing ‘extraordinary’ strain on dental professionals.

Figures from the GDC showed that one investigation that finally concluded in 2025 had gone on for total of 474 weeks, or nine years and one month.