For the first time, the General Dental Council (GDC) has more than 100,000 dental professionals on its registers. It reached the milestone exactly 55 years to the day since the first meeting of the GDC. As of Monday 4 July 2011 the figure stood at 100,001.

Dental nurses now make up the biggest group with more than 46,000 on the register, followed by dentists with over 38,000. The smallest registrant groups are clinical dental technicians and orthodontic therapists, with 170 and 166 registrants respectively.

The same week, the Council for Healthcare Regulatory Excellence (CHRE) published its performance review report.

'This week's publication serves as a reminder of the importance of the GDC focusing its resources where they are needed,' said Dr Susie Sanderson, Chair of the BDA's Executive Board. 'Anxieties were raised about the GDC just two months ago when Chair Dr Alison Lockyer resigned suddenly citing unspecified concerns.'

The CHRE publication says that the difficulties the GDC is experiencing have implications for its ability to maintain the confidence of both the professions and the public in its role as an effective regulator. It highlights particular concerns about the timeliness and quality of the GDC's responses to complaints and argues that there are significant weaknesses in the performance of the GDC's fitness to practise function. Concerns are also expressed that the GDC is focusing solely on improving the time taken for cases to progress from investigating committee to final hearing, with the report recommending that quality assurance processes are introduced urgently.

The CHRE report says that the next 12 months will be critical to the improvement of the GDC's overall performance.