Search Legislation

Dentists Act 1984

Changes to legislation:

Dentists Act 1984 is up to date with all changes known to be in force on or before 27 December 2024. There are changes that may be brought into force at a future date. Help about Changes to Legislation

Close

Changes to Legislation

Changes and effects yet to be applied by the editorial team are only applicable when viewing the latest version or prospective version of legislation. They are therefore not accessible when viewing legislation as at a specific point in time. To view the ‘Changes to Legislation’ information for this provision return to the latest version view using the options provided in the ‘What Version’ box above.

  1. Introductory Text

  2. Part I The General Dental Council

    1. 1. Constitution and general duties of the Council.

    2. 2. Committees of the Council.

    3. 2A.The Council’s duty to co-operate

    4. 2B.Annual reports, statistical reports and strategic plans

    5. 2C.Accounts

    6. 2D.Complaints

    7. 2E.Registration of members’ private interests

  3. Part II Dental Education

    1. Degrees and licences in dentistry

      1. 3. Power of medical authorities to hold examinations and grant licences in dentistry.

      2. 4. Conduct of examinations for degrees and licences.

      3. 5. Holding of examinations and grant of licences by Royal College of Surgeons of England.

      4. 6. Requirements in relation to admission of candidates to examinations and grant of degrees and licences.

      5. 7. Effect of grant of degree or licence in dentistry.

    2. Supervision of dental education

      1. 8. Information to be furnished by dental authorities.

      2. 9. Supervision of instruction given by dental schools and post-graduate institutions.

      3. 10. Supervision of examinations.

      4. 11. Remedy where qualifying courses of study or examinations are inadequate.

      5. 12. Candidates not to be required to adopt or reject particular theories of dentistry.

      6. 12A.Degrees and licences in dentistry

    3. Functions of Education Committee

      1. 13. Dental Education

  4. Part III The Dental Profession

    1. Registration

      1. 14. The dentists register and the registrar

      2. 15. Qualification for registration in the dentists register.

      3. 15A.Supplementary provisions as to the necessary knowledge of English

      4. 16. Supplementary provisions as to registration of holders of overseas diplomas.

      5. 17. Temporary registration.

    2. Procedure for registration

      1. 18. Procedure for registration.

      2. 19. Regulations with respect to the register.

      3. 20. Selection of proper abbreviations of overseas diplomas.

      4. 21. Notification of reasons for refusal of application for registration etc.

      5. 21A.Notification of results of application

    3. Publication of the register

      1. 22. Publication of the register

    4. Erasures and alterations in the register

      1. 23. Erasure of names of deceased persons and of those who have ceased to practise.

      2. 24. Erasure on grounds of fraud or error

      3. 25. Alteration of names and addresses.

    5. Registration appeals

      1. 25A.Registration appeals

    6. Use of titles and descriptions

      1. 26. Use of titles and descriptions.

    7. Insurance

      1. 26A.Indemnity arrangements

    8. Professional conduct and fitness to practise

      1. 26B.Guidance

      2. 27.Allegations

      3. 27A.The Investigating Committee

      4. 27AA. Delegation of the Investigating Committee’s functions under section 27A

      5. 27AB.Review of determination under section 27A(1)

      6. 27B.The Practice Committees

      7. 27C.Resumed hearings

      8. 28.Restoration of names to the register following erasure under section 27B

      9. 29. Appeals.

      10. 29A.Taking effect of directions for erasure, suspension, conditional registration etc.

      11. 30.Orders for immediate suspension and immediate conditional registration

      12. 31. Special provisions where directions replace, or extend periods under, previous directions.

      13. 32.Interim orders

    9. Supplementary provisions

      1. 33.Supplementary provisions relating to fitness to practise cases

      2. 33A.Recording of suspension or conditional registration etc.

      3. 33B.The Council’s power to require disclosure of information

      4. 33C.Notification and disclosure by the Council

      5. 34. Restoration of name erased under s. 27.

    10. Professional training and development requirements

      1. 34A. Professional training and development requirements

      2. 34AA.Limits on section 34A as respects visiting dentists from relevant European States

      3. 34B. Restoration of name to the register: professional training and development

    11. Effect of disqualification in a relevant European State

      1. 35. Effect on registration of disqualification in a relevant European State.

    12. Visiting dentists from relevant European States

      1. 36. Visiting dentists from relevant European States .

    13. The Directive: designation of competent authority etc.

      1. 36ZA.The Directive: designation of competent authority etc.

      2. 36ZB.Fees for provision of certificates

  5. PART 3A Professions Complementary to Dentistry

    1. Introductory

      1. 36A.Professions complementary to dentistry

    2. Education and registration

      1. 36B.The dental care professionals register

      2. 36C.Qualifications for registration

      3. 36CA.Supplementary provisions as to necessary knowledge of English

      4. 36D.Education and training for members of professions complementary to dentistry

    3. Procedure for registration

      1. 36E.Rules relating to the dental care professionals register

      2. 36F.Fees

    4. Publication of the dental care professionals register

      1. 36G.Publication of the dental care professionals register

    5. Erasures and alterations in the dental care professionals register

      1. 36H.Erasure of names of deceased persons and of those who have ceased to practise

      2. 36I.Erasure on grounds of fraud or error

    6. Registration appeals

      1. 36J.Registration appeals

    7. Use of titles and descriptions

      1. 36K.Use of titles and descriptions

    8. Insurance

      1. 36L.Indemnity arrangements

    9. Professional conduct and fitness to practise

      1. 36M.Guidance

      2. 36N.Allegations

      3. 36O.The Investigating Committee

      4. 36OA. Delegation of the Investigating Committee’s functions under section 36O

      5. 36OB.Review of determination under section 36O(1)

      6. 36P.The Practice Committees

      7. 36Q.Resumed hearings

      8. 36R.Restoration of names to the dental care professionals register following erasure under section 36P

      9. 36S.Appeals

      10. 36T.Taking effect of directions for erasure, suspension, conditional registration etc.

      11. 36U.Orders for immediate suspension and immediate conditional registration

      12. 36V.Interim orders

    10. Supplementary provisions

      1. 36W.Supplementary provisions relating to fitness to practise cases

    11. 36X.Recording of suspension or conditional registration etc.

    12. 36Y.The Council’s power to require disclosure of information

    13. 36Z.Notification and disclosure by the Council

    14. Professional training and development requirements

      1. 36Z1.Professional training and development requirements

      2. 36Z2.Restoration of names to the dental care professionals register: professional training and development

    15. Visiting dental care professionals from relevant European States

      1. 36Z3.Visiting dental care professionals from relevant European States

      2. 36Z4.Limits on section 36Z1 as respects visiting dental care professionals

  6. Part IV Restrictions on Practice of Dentistry and on Carrying on Business of Dentistry

    1. The practice of dentistry

      1. 37. Definition of practice of dentistry.

      2. 38. Prohibition on practice of dentistry by laymen.

      3. 39. Prohibition on use of practitioners’ titles by laymen.

    2. Restrictions on carrying on the business of dentistry

      1. 40. Definition of business of dentistry.

      2. 41. Restriction on individuals.

      3. 42. Restriction on bodies corporate

      4. 43.Directors of bodies corporate

      5. 43A.Provision of information and payment of fees by bodies corporate

      6. 43B.Financial penalties in relation to bodies corporate

      7. 44.Further financial penalties on bodies corporate

      8. 44A.Supplementary provisions relating to financial penalties under sections 43B and 44

      9. 44B.Appeals relating to financial penalties

  7. Part V Dental Auxiliaries

    1. 45. Establishment by Council of classes of dental auxiliaries.

    2. 46. Restrictions on employment of dental auxiliaries.

    3. 47. Use of titles and descriptions.

    4. 48. Functions of Dental Auxiliaries Committee.

  8. Part VI Miscellaneous and Supplementary

    1. Termination of the 1927 Agreement

      1. 49. Termination of the 1927 Agreement with the Republic of Ireland.

      2. 49A.Advisers

    2. Supplementary

      1. 50. Evidence etc. in certain proceedings under this Act.

      2. 50A.Service of notifications

      3. 50B.Publication of information

      4. 50C.Rules

      5. 50D.Rules: consultation requirements

      6. 51. Exercise of powers conferred on Privy Council.

      7. 52. Regulations and other documents.

      8. 53. Interpretation.

      9. 54. Consequential amendments, repeals and revocations.

      10. 55. Commencement, transitional provisions and savings.

      11. 56. Short title and extent.

  9. SCHEDULES

    1. SCHEDULE 1

      The Council and Committees of the Council: Supplementary Provisions

      1. Part I The Council

        1. Constitution

          1. 1.(1) The Council shall consist of— (a) members who are...

          2. 1A.(1) The Council shall consist of— (a) registrant members, that...

        2. Matters for the order of the Privy Council under section 1(2A)

          1. 1B.(1) An order under section 1(2A) shall include provision with...

        3. Lay members

          1. 2.(1) An order of the Privy Council made under section...

          2. 2A.(1) This paragraph applies if, under section 187 of the...

        4. Members who are registered dentists or registered dental care professionals

          1. 3.(1) An order of the Privy Council made under section...

        5. Council President

          1. 4.(1) The members of the Council shall elect one of...

          2. 5.

        6. General powers of Council

          1. 6.(1) Subject to the following provisions of this Part of...

          2. 7.(1) Subject to section 43B(13) and section 44(12), the Council...

          3. 8.(1) The Council may make rules— (a) . . ....

          4. 8A.(1) Subject to any provision made by this Act or...

      2. Part II

        1. The Education Committee

          1. 9.

        2. The Preliminary Proceedings Committee

          1. 10.

        3. The Professional Conduct Committee

          1. 11.

        4. The Dental Auxiliaries Committee

          1. 12.

    2. SCHEDULE 2

      European Dental Qualifications

      1. Part I Appropriate European Diplomas

        1. 1.(1) In this Schedule— “medical qualification” means a diploma, certificate...

        2. 2.Subject to paragraphs 3, 3A and 4 below, any diploma...

        3. 3.A diploma listed in Annex V, point 5.3.2 of the...

        4. 3A.A diploma granted in a relevant European State on or...

        5. 4.A diploma granted in a relevant European State before the...

        6. 5.A medical qualification awarded in Austria, Italy, Romania or Spain...

        7. 6.. . . . . . . . . ....

        8. 6A.(1) A medical qualification awarded in Italy to a person...

        9. 6B.A medical qualification as a doctor awarded in Spain to...

        10. 7.A diploma in dentistry which is evidence of training commenced...

        11. 8.(1) A diploma in dentistry which— (a) is evidence of...

        12. 9.A medical qualification awarded in the Czech Republic or in...

        13. 10.A medical qualification awarded in Slovakia or in the former...

      2. PART II SCHEDULED EUROPEAN DIPLOMAS

    3. SCHEDULE 2A

      Registration appeals: dentists register

      1. 1.In this Schedule— “appealable registration decision” shall be construed in...

      2. 2.(1) The following decisions are appealable registration decisions for the...

      3. 3.Notification of appealable registration decisions

      4. 4.Appeals from an appealable registration decision

      5. 5.Extension of time for appealing

      6. 6.Appeals from the Registration Appeals Committee

    4. SCHEDULE 3

      Proceedings before the Investigating Committee, the Interim Orders Committee and Practice Committees: dentists

      1. 1.Definitions

      2. 2.Rules relating to procedure

      3. 3.Evidence etc.

      4. 4.(1) For the purpose of proceedings under Part 3 of...

      5. 5.Where the proceedings relate to a person’s conduct, and that...

      6. 6.Costs

      7. 7.Reference of cases to the registrar or a different Committee

    5. SCHEDULE 3A

      CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CASES

      1. Procedure

        1. 1. CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CASES

        2. 2. CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CASES

        3. 3. CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CASES

      2. References to other committees

        1. 4. CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CASES

      3. Notices

        1. 5. CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CASES

    6. SCHEDULE4

      VISITING DENTISTS FROM RELEVANT EUROPEAN STATES

      1. 1.Application and interpretation

      2. 2.In this Schedule— (a) a “visiting practitioner” means an exempt...

      3. 3.Registration in respect of provision of occasional dental services

      4. 4.Entitlement to provide occasional dental services: first year

      5. 5.First provision of services: required documents

      6. 6.(1) Subject to sub-paragraph (4), the evidence referred to in...

      7. 7.Entitlement to provide occasional dental services after first year: renewals

      8. 8.Duration of entitlement to provide occasional dental services

      9. 9.Conditions

    7. SCHEDULE4ZA

      DIRECTIVE 2005/36: FUNCTIONS OF THE COUNCIL UNDER SECTION 36ZA(3)

    8. SCHEDULE 4A

      Registration appeals: dental care professionals register

      1. 1.In this Schedule— “appealable registration decision” shall be construed in...

      2. 2.(1) The following decisions are appealable registration decisions for the...

      3. 3.Notification of appealable registration decisions

      4. 4.Appeals from an appealable registration decision

      5. 5.Extension of time for appealing

      6. 6.Appeals from the Registration Appeals Committee

    9. SCHEDULE 4B

      Proceedings before the Investigating Committee, the Interim Orders Committee and Practice Committees: dental care professionals

      1. 1.Definitions

      2. 2.Rules relating to procedure

      3. 3.Evidence etc.

      4. 4.(1) For the purpose of proceedings under Part 3A of...

      5. 5.Where the proceedings relate to a person’s conduct, and that...

      6. 6.Costs

      7. 7.Reference of cases to the registrar or a different Committee

    10. SCHEDULE 4C

      Advisers

      1. 1.Legal advisers

      2. 2.Medical advisers

      3. 3.Professional advisers

    11. SCHEDULE 5

      Consequential Amendments

      1. 1. Consequential Amendments

      2. Medicines Act 1968 (c. 67)

        1. 2.In section 132(1), in the definition of “dentist”, for the...

      3. Misuse Of Drugs Act 1971 (c. 38)

        1. 3.In section 37(1), in the definition of “dentist”, for the...

      4. Poisons Act 1972 (c. 66)

        1. 4.In section 11(2), in the definition of “dentist”, for the...

      5. Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972 (S.I.1972/1265 (N.I.14))

        1. 5.In Article 2(2), in the definition of “dental practitioner”, for...

      6. Fair Trading Act 1973 (c. 41)

        1. 6.In paragraph 3 of Schedule 4, for “1957” substitute “1984”....

      7. Restrictive Trade Practices Act 1976 (c. 34)

        1. 7.In paragraph 3 of Schedule 1, for “1957” substitute “...

      8. National Health Service Act 1977 (c. 49)

        1. 8.In section 35(3) (added by section 15 of the Health...

        2. 9.. . . . . . . . . ....

        3. 10.. . . . . . . . . ....

        4. 11. Consequential Amendments

      9. National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978 (c. 29)

        1. 12.In section 25(4) (added by section 16 of the Health...

        2. 13.In section 108(1), in the definition of “dental practitioner”, for...

        3. 14.In paragraph 6A of Schedule 1 (inserted by the said...

      10. Medical Act 1983 (c. 54)

        1. 15.In paragraph 4 of Schedule 6, for “Articles 2(d) and”...

      11. Value Added Tax Act 1983 (c. 55)

        1. 16. Consequential Amendments

    12. SCHEDULE 6

      Repeals and Revocations

      1. Part I

      2. Part II

    13. SCHEDULE 7

      Transitional Provisions and Savings

      1. General

        1. 1.Where a period of time specified in an enactment repealed...

      2. Elections and nominations

        1. 2.Any election or nomination held or made before the commencement...

      3. Registration

        1. 3.(1) Nothing in the repeals made by this Act shall...

      4. Adaptation of references in enactments etc.

        1. 4.(1) In any enactment or instrument passed or made before...

      5. Proceedings pending before Disciplinary Committee

        1. 5.For the purpose of the hearing and determination of any...

        2. 6.For the purposes of— (a) any case referred to the...

      6. Rules of procedure

        1. 7.Any rules made by the Council before the commencement of...

      7. Restrictions on carrying on the business of dentistry

        1. 8.Except in the case of a body corporate which—

        2. 9.(1) Any reference in section 41(2) or 44 of this...

      8. Documents issued by Dental Board

        1. 10.The reference in section 52(2) of this Act to any...

Back to top

Options/Help

Print Options

You have chosen to open The Whole Act

The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open The Whole Act as a PDF

The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download.

Would you like to continue?

You have chosen to open the Whole Act

The Whole Act you have selected contains over 200 provisions and might take some time to download. You may also experience some issues with your browser, such as an alert box that a script is taking a long time to run.

Would you like to continue?

Close

Legislation is available in different versions:

Latest Available (revised):The latest available updated version of the legislation incorporating changes made by subsequent legislation and applied by our editorial team. Changes we have not yet applied to the text, can be found in the ‘Changes to Legislation’ area.

Original (As Enacted or Made): The original version of the legislation as it stood when it was enacted or made. No changes have been applied to the text.

Point in Time: This becomes available after navigating to view revised legislation as it stood at a certain point in time via Advanced Features > Show Timeline of Changes or via a point in time advanced search.

Close

Opening Options

Different options to open legislation in order to view more content on screen at once

Close

More Resources

Access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item from this tab. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • correction slips
  • links to related legislation and further information resources
Close

Timeline of Changes

This timeline shows the different points in time where a change occurred. The dates will coincide with the earliest date on which the change (e.g an insertion, a repeal or a substitution) that was applied came into force. The first date in the timeline will usually be the earliest date when the provision came into force. In some cases the first date is 01/02/1991 (or for Northern Ireland legislation 01/01/2006). This date is our basedate. No versions before this date are available. For further information see the Editorial Practice Guide and Glossary under Help.

Close

More Resources

Use this menu to access essential accompanying documents and information for this legislation item. Dependent on the legislation item being viewed this may include:

  • the original print PDF of the as enacted version that was used for the print copy
  • correction slips

Click 'View More' or select 'More Resources' tab for additional information including:

  • lists of changes made by and/or affecting this legislation item
  • confers power and blanket amendment details
  • all formats of all associated documents
  • links to related legislation and further information resources