The General Dental Council (GDC) has produced some posters for dental practices to use to remind dental care professionals (DCPs) of their continuing professional development (CPD) obligations.

With less than a year to go until the end of the first five-year cycle of CPD for more than 40,000 DCPs, the GDC is urging employers to ensure their dental team know exactly what's expected of them. This means they must complete 150 hours of CPD by 31 July 2013 or risk losing their GDC registration.

According to GDC figures in August, 12,700 (32%) of DCPs have logged all of their hours (including 50 hours of verifiable CPD); 4,600 (12%) have logged no hours; and dental technicians are the least likely to have logged any hours, with 23% having not yet declared any.

The 2013 deadline affects DCPs who registered with the GDC on or before 31 July 2008.

The GDC's service for logging CPD hours can be accessed at: www.egdc-uk.org. The posters can be accessed at: www.gdc-uk.org/Dentalprofessionals/CPD/Documents/CPD%20posters.pdf.