Dentists Act 1984

53 Interpretation.U.K.

(1)In this Act—

  • [F1“competent authority” means any authority or body of a relevant European State designated by that State for the purposes of the Directive as competent to—

    (a)

    receive or issue evidence of qualifications or other information or documents, or

    (b)

    receive applications and take the decisions referred to in the Directive,

    in connection with the practice of dentistry or a profession complementary to dentistry;;]

  • “the Council” means the General Dental Council;

  • “dental authority” shall be construed in accordance with section 3(4) above;

  • “diploma” means any diploma, degree, fellowship, membership, licence, authority to practise, letters testimonial, certificate or other status or document granted by any university, corporation, college or other body or by any department of, or persons acting under the authority of, the government of any country or place (whether within or without Her Majesty’s dominions);

  • [F2“the Directive” means Directive 2005/36/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 7th September 2005 on the recognition of professional qualifications (OJNo. L255, 30.09.2005, p.22), and references in this Act to the Directive or to any provision of the Directive are references to the Directive, or to that provision of the Directive, as amended from time to time;]

  • [F3“exempt person”, in relation to the profession of dentistry or in relation to a profession complementary to dentistry, means—

    (a)

    a national of a relevant European State other than the United Kingdom;

    (b)

    a national of the United Kingdom who is seeking access to, or is pursuing, the profession by virtue of an enforceable [F4EU] right; or

    (c)

    a person who is not a national of a relevant European State but who is, by virtue of an enforceable [F4EU] right, entitled to be treated, for the purposes of access to and pursuit of the profession, no less favourably than a national of a relevant European State;

  • “the General Systems Regulations” means the European Communities (Recognition of Professional Qualifications) Regulations 2007 (S.I. 2007/2781);]

  • F5...

  • [F6“interim order” means—

    (a)

    an interim suspension order under section 32(4)(a) or section 36V(4)(a); or

    (b)

    an order for interim conditional registration under section 32(4)(b) or section 36V(4)(b);

  • [F7“national”, in relation to a relevant European State, means the same as in the [F4EU] Treaties, but does not include a person who by virtue of Article 2 of Protocol No. 3 (Channel Islands and Isle of Man) to the Treaty of Accession is not to benefit from [F4EU] provisions relating to the free movement of persons and services;]

  • [F8“the necessary knowledge of English”—

    (a)

    in relation to a person registered, or applying to be registered, in the dentists register, means a knowledge of English which, in the interests of the person and the person’s patients, is necessary for the practice of dentistry in the United Kingdom;

    (b)

    in relation to a person registered, or applying to be registered, in the dental care professionals register, means a knowledge of English which, in the interests of the person and the person’s patients, is necessary for the practice of a profession complementary to dentistry in the United Kingdom;]

  • “Practice Committee” shall be construed in accordance with section 2;

  • “profession complementary to dentistry” shall be construed in accordance with section 36A(1);]

  • “recognised overseas diploma” has the meaning given by section 15(2) above.

  • “the register” means the dentists register;

  • [F9“registered dental care professional” means a person for the time being registered in the dental care professionals register under a title or titles;]

  • “registered dentist” means (subject to section 17(4) above) a person for the time being registered in the register;

  • “the registrar” means the person for the time being appointed under [F10section 14(2)] above;

  • [F11“relevant European State” means an EEA State or Switzerland.]

  • F12...

(2)In this Act references to the practice of dentistry shall be construed in accordance with section 37 above, and references to carrying on the business of dentistry shall be construed in accordance with section 40 above.

[F13(2A)In this Act references to a body corporate’s principal office mean, in the case of a body corporate registered outside the United Kingdom, that body’s principal office within the United Kingdom.]

(3)References in this Act to the provision [F14, supervision or management] of national health services are references to the provision [F14, supervision or management] of—

[F15(a)services under—

(i)[F16section 2, 3, 92 or 107 of, or paragraphs 1 to 6 of Schedule 1 to, the National Health Service Act 2006, or section 2, 3, 50 or 64 of, or paragraphs 1 to 6 of Schedule 1 to, the National Health Service (Wales) Act 2006] ;

(ii)section 17C, 36, 38 or 39 of the M1National Health Service (Scotland) Act 1978; or

(iii)]Article 5, 8 [F17, 9 or 15B] of the M2Health and Personal Social Services (Northern Ireland) Order 1972; and

(b)services at health centres provided under the said sections 2, 3 or 36 or the said Article 5.

F18(4). . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Textual Amendments

F6Words in s. 53(1) inserted (coming into force in accordance with art. 1(4)-(7) of the amending S.I. (see the London Gazette, issue nos. 57734, 57975, 58050 and 58769, dated respectively 19.8.2005, 5.6.2006, 21.7.2006 and 18.7.2008)) by The Dentists Act 1984 (Amendment) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/2011), art. 46(2)(a) (with Sch. 7) (with transitional provisions in S.I. 2006/1671)

F9Words in s. 53(1) inserted (coming into force in accordance with art. 1(4)-(7) of the amending S.I. (see the London Gazette, issue nos. 57734, 57975, 58050 and 58769, dated respectively 19.8.2005, 5.6.2006, 21.7.2006 and 18.7.2008)) by The Dentists Act 1984 (Amendment) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/2011), art. 46(2)(b) (with Sch. 7) (with transitional provisions in S.I. 2006/1671)

F10Words in s. 53(1) substituted (coming into force in accordance with art. 1(4)-(7) of the amending S.I. (see the London Gazette, issue nos. 57734, 57975, 58050 and 58769, dated respectively 19.8.2005, 5.6.2006, 21.7.2006 and 18.7.2008)) by The Dentists Act 1984 (Amendment) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/2011), art. 46(2)(c) (with Sch. 7) (with transitional provisions in S.I. 2006/1671)

F13S. 53(2A) inserted (coming into force in accordance with art. 1(4)-(7) of the amending S.I. (see the London Gazette, issue nos. 57734, 57975, 58050 and 58769, dated respectively 19.8.2005, 5.6.2006, 21.7.2006 and 18.7.2008)) by The Dentists Act 1984 (Amendment) Order 2005 (S.I. 2005/2011), art. 46(3) (with Sch. 7) (with transitional provisions in S.I. 2006/1671)

F15Words in s. 53(3)(a) substituted (18.11.1998) by virtue of 1997 c. 46, s. 41(10), Sch. 2 Pt. I para. 62; S.I. 1998/2840, art. 2(1)

F17Words in s. 53(3)(a)(iii) substituted (1.4.1999) by S.I. 1997/1177, art. 32(1), Sch. 2; S.R. 1998/301, art. 2(2), Sch. 2 (with art. 3)

F18S. 53(4) repealed (5.11.1993) by 1993 c. 50, s. 1(1), Sch. 1 Pt. XIV.

Marginal Citations