Reporting a public protection issue or concern about a dental professional

We are a UK wide regulator, and our role is to protect the public. We investigate public protection issues or concerns and take action in the interests of the public and patients when necessary.

We can’t resolve individual dental complaints or help with refunds.

Find out how to make a complaint or get a refund

As a regulator, we investigate serious concerns about the clinical practice, behaviour or health of dental professionals (dentists and all other members of the dental team). Action is taken in the public interest to maintain public safety and confidence in the dental profession.

We can restrict a dental professional’s registration while we investigate. This can include suspending their registration or making sure they’re supervised when practising.

If you have concerns about a dental professional follow our three-step complaints process first. The organisations that help you may also report your issue to us if they think there are public protection concerns.

We investigate serious concerns that suggest a dental professional could be:

• causing harm to the public, patients or colleagues
• undermining public confidence in the dental profession.

Examples include:

• Violence, sexual assault, misconduct, and discrimination.
• Any serious criminal offence, including potential fraud or theft.
• Serious or repeated mistakes in patient care or treatment, including breaking patient confidentiality, not responding to a patient’s needs, and not referring when needed.

We can also look into people who may be practising dentistry (including tooth whitening) without being registered.