New powers for the General Dental Council (GDC) to protect patients have been announced by Health Minister Rosie Winterton. These include measures to tackle problems highlighted in a report on the private dentistry market in the UK by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT). Patients complained that they were not given adequate information to make informed choices about their treatment and often do not know how much their treatment is going to cost.

The Order, made under Section 60 of the Health Act, will allow the GDC to establish a complaints scheme for non-NHS patients to complain about their dental care. For example, dentists are expected to agree a patient's treatment costs in advance. If the patient then finds that, without their consent, the costs substantially exceed this agreed amount, the new measures give the patient the means to complain.

This Order will also empower the GDC to address the other concerns highlighted in the OFT report by: introducing compulsory indemnity cover for dentists before registration, so that dentists who are found to have harmed patients are insured and able to pay compensation; safeguarding patients by giving the GDC the power to extend regulation to other professionals working within dentistry, including dental technicians and nurses; and modernising the Council's ‘fitness to practise’ procedures for dealing with misconduct and ill health amongst dental professionals, and introduce new procedures to tackle problems of poor performance.

Rosie Winterton said, “These measures will make sure patients get a fair deal and clear information when they receive dental treatment. Through these new powers, the General Dental Council is better placed to assure the quality of care that patients receive and provides a more robust and effective complaints system to take early action when things go wrong.” She added that ensuring dentists had proper indemnity cover before they registered was an important extra protection for patients and could avoid cases in which patients have sued for damages and then found the dentist could not pay.