The GDC has made a major change to dental technician registration and has decided that registration should be compulsory for everyone directly involved in the manufacture of dental appliances.

Under its old policy, unregistered dental laboratory workers would have been able to continue working but only GDC-registered technicians would have been able to sign off work leaving dental laboratories.

The new policy means that once the two-year transition to PCD registration is over, all laboratory workers with hands-on involvement in the production process will either need to be GDC-registered or on a recognised training programme.

The GDC says the change in policy is in the interests of patient protection and is also based upon proposals from a collective of dental technology organisations known as the Gateway Group, which includes the British Institute of Dental Surgical Technologists, the Central Council for Health Authority Technicians, the Clinical Dental Technician Association, the Dental Laboratories Association, the Dental Technicians Association and the Orthodontic Technicians Association.

The group made strong representations to the GDC over recent months in support of registration for all dental laboratory workers.

The criteria for registration as a dental technician are unaffected by the policy change. During the two-year transitional period, technicians will be able to register on the basis of having an approved qualification or registration on the Dental Technicians Association's voluntary register or seven years' full time experience (or the part time equivalent) in the past ten years and experience of manufacturing dental appliances in one of a number of treatment areas such as prosthodontics.

GDC Chief Executive and Registrar, Antony Townsend said, ‘The new arrangements are designed to achieve higher standards of dental technology products for patients, and to encourage the dental team ethos which is at the heart of PCD registration.’