Sir, I write in response to J. Ludford's letter (BDJ 2006; 200: 473).

The General Dental Council is committed to being open, accessible and accountable for its actions. Members of the public and dental professionals need access to information about our work so they may have confidence that we are fulfilling our public protection role.

Conduct hearings are public inquiries into the fitness to practise of dental professionals. Patients, other dental professionals, employers and others, all have a legitimate interest in the outcome of these hearings. That is why we consider it important to publish the details of cases in our newsletter (the Gazette) and on our website. Contrary to the writer's claim, no one is stripped of their 'courtesy title' in these reports. The GDC itself does not generally use the courtesy title 'Doctor' when writing to or about dentists.

The fee dentists pay for registration represents the true cost of regulation. The GDC is a non profit making organisation. The General Medical Council does charge doctors a lower fee, but with more than 230,000 registrants (the GDC has fewer than 40,000), this is a reflection of substantial economies of scale.

We do not offer free registration or reduced fees to dentists over the age of 65 as it would increase the charge to other registrants — very many of whom work part-time or have relatively modest earnings, for example, those studying medicine.

The GMC has obtained the necessary legal changes to have a non-practising list, for which those registrants will pay a lower fee. Currently, the law does not permit the GDC a 'non-practising' category. However, this is something we will be exploring as part of our work towards the introduction of a revalidation scheme for dental professionals.