Many dental nurses are concerned about the costs of GDC registration such as the Annual Retention Fee (ARF), indemnity and CPD.

The verifiable CPD requirement of 50 hours over five years can be met in a number of ways – British Association of Dental Nurses (BADN) members can complete up to eight hours of verifiable CPD per year by means of articles/questionnaires in the British Dental Nurses' Journal. The BADN National Dental Nursing Conference also provides up to eight hours of verifiable CPD – various BADN Regions and Local Groups will also be holding Study Days and Evenings which will offer verifiable CPD. The CPD in the Journal is free to BADN members, who also receive a discount of at least £70 on the cost of the Conference or Study Days. BADN also has a CPD advice sheet which is available to members.

Full BADN membership currently includes £1 million indemnity insurance as part of the membership package.

The BADN Full Membership fee of £70 per year (or just under 20p per day) provides both general and verifiable CPD through the Journal, indemnity insurance, free legal advice, special member rates at Conference and Study Days, and information, advice and support through the members' CD Rom and members area of the website or from the BADN staff, as well as a range of discounts and special offers on travel, holidays, home and car insurance, eye care, CDs/DVDs, etc. The £70 payment therefore includes the cost of indemnity insurance and CPD as well as other services and provides dental nurses with access to a number of credit-crunching discounts. Membership application forms may be obtained by calling 01253 338360, emailing membership@badn.org.uk or from the BADN website http://www.badn.org.uk.

Practices may choose to pay their dental nurses' BADN membership fee as well as the registration fee. However, I must point out that if this is the case, there is a tax implication for both the practice and the dental nurse. BADN provides members with information on this subject, as well as a tax refund service which determines whether individual dental nurses have paid too much tax and, if so, reclaims it for them. BADN would suggest that practices wishing to pay these fees for their dental nurses instead pay the £166 (or £3.20 per week) necessary to the dental nurse concerned who is responsible for their own registration/indemnity cover.

This year's BADN Conference takes place at Cheltenham Chase Hotel on 23-24 October 2009.

More information on tax claims can be found on page 39.