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Many of your readers may be wondering why the General Dental Council has started using the term ‘dental care professional’ in place of ‘professional complementary to dentistry’, seemingly without warning.

This new term originates with the Department of Health. Just before the changes to the Dentists Act were placed before the Westminster and Scottish Parliaments in the summer, the DH decided to change the term PCD to DCP – ‘dental care professional’.

We decided that for consistency, and to avoid any possible confusion from the public, the GDC should use the term DCP from now on. I hope your readers will understand the reasons for the change.

This does not affect the professional groups' individual titles – so a dental hygienist will still be known as a dental hygienist, and a dental nurse will still be known as a dental nurse.

Readers should also remember that once registration has become compulsory for all groups (two years after the new register opens), their DCP titles will be protected by law. This means that you will need to be registered with the GDC before you can use any of the DCP titles.

For the latest information on DCP registration, readers should visit the ‘Potential registrant’ section of our website at www.gdc-uk.org, or contact our DCP help-line (email dcp@gdc-uk.org or call 020 7344 3740).

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