GDC advertising guidance: a plain-English guide for practices

The GDC advertising guidance sets out what dental professionals must and must not do when they promote themselves or their practice. It covers websites, social media, leaflets, adverts and anything else carrying a registrant's name. It is a short document, but breaking it can lead to a fitness to practise investigation. This guide walks through it in plain English, then covers the ASA rules that apply alongside it.

Where the GDC advertising guidance comes from

The duty starts in the GDC's Standards for the Dental Team. Standard 1.3.3 says you must make sure any advertising, promotional material or other information you produce is accurate and not misleading, and complies with the GDC's guidance on ethical advertising.

The detail is in the GDC's Guidance on advertising, effective from 30 September 2013. It opens with the principle that all information or publicity about dental services should be legal, decent, honest and truthful. It warns that advertising which is false or misleading, or has the potential to mislead, is unprofessional, may lead to a fitness to practise investigation and can be a criminal offence.

Is the guidance changing?

The GDC consulted from 2 June to 31 August 2026 on replacing the Standards for the Dental Team with a new Framework for Professionalism, built on four principles supported by expectations and guidance. No implementation date has been announced, so until the GDC says otherwise, the current Standards and the 2013 advertising guidance are the ones to follow.

Who the guidance applies to

The guidance says that whenever you, your practice or any place you work produces information containing your name, you are responsible for checking it is correct. That has practical consequences:

• An associate named on a practice website is responsible for what it says about them, even if the owner or a marketing agency wrote it.
• The person responsible for the practice website has extra duties, covered below.
• Using an agency does not transfer the responsibility. Check what goes out in your name.

The six general rules for all dental advertising

The guidance lists six things you must do in any information containing your name:

1. Ensure information is current and accurate.
2. Make sure your GDC registration number is included.
3. Use clear language that patients are likely to understand.
4. Back up claims with facts.
5. Avoid ambiguous statements.
6. Avoid statements or claims intended or likely to create an unjustified expectation about the results you can achieve.

It adds one more requirement that practices often miss: you must make clear in advertisements and other practice publicity whether the practice is NHS (or equivalent), mixed or wholly private.

In practice, the sixth rule is where most risk sits. "Pain-free", "perfect smile", "permanent results" and "the best dentist in town" are all claims that are hard to back with facts and easy to read as a promise.

What the GDC says your website must show

This is the part most often searched for as the GDC website guidance. It has two lists.

For every dental professional named on a website

• Your professional qualification and the country it was obtained in.
• Your GDC registration number.

For whoever is responsible for a practice website

The guidance also says you must update the website regularly so it accurately reflects the people at the practice and the services offered, and must not display information comparing the skills or qualifications of one dental professional with another.

The GDC publishes an advertising checklist PDF that turns all of this into yes or no questions. It is worth printing and working through for your website once a year and whenever the team changes.

Specialist titles: the rule most likely to catch you out

The guidance is precise:

• Dentists on a GDC specialist list can use the title "Specialist" or describe themselves as a "specialist in" their field.
• Dentists not on a specialist list must not use titles that may imply specialist status, such as orthodontist, periodontist or endodontist.
• If you are not on a specialist list you must not describe yourself as "specialising in" a treatment, but may say "special interest in", "experienced in" or "practice limited to".
• There are no specialist lists for dental care professionals, so titles such as "smile specialist" or "denture specialist" must not be used.

The GDC's checklist adds that "specialist" should not be used for areas where no specialist list exists, giving implantology as the example. So "implant specialist" should not appear on your site. Check team biographies, treatment pages, page titles and social profiles, because the word can creep into marketing copy.

Honorary degrees and memberships

You must not list memberships or fellowships of professional associations, or honorary degrees, in abbreviated form after your name. The GDC's reason is that patients may think the letters are further qualifications.

Using "Dr"

The GDC allows dentists to use "Dr" as a courtesy title. The ASA's advice on the Dr title recommends that dentists who use it make clear it is a courtesy title and that a general medical qualification is not held. It notes the ASA has ruled against dentists who did not qualify it adequately.

Social media, deal sites and new treatments

The guidance names Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, Groupon and X. If you promote services there, you must make clear that the treatment may not be appropriate for every patient and that it depends on a satisfactory assessment. You must assess the patient, obtain consent, take a medical history and explain all the options before carrying out any work.

On services your primary training does not cover, such as facial aesthetics, the guidance says you must undertake appropriate additional training, must not imply you are competent purely by virtue of your primary qualification, and should make clear you have done the extra training.

On products, you should only recommend them if they are the best way to meet a patient's needs, give only factual information that can be verified, and avoid implying your view is shared by the whole profession.

Prices: the Standards go further than the guidance

Price information sits in the Standards rather than the advertising guidance. Standard 2.4 says:

• a simple price list must be clearly displayed in your reception or waiting area
• you must give clear information on prices in your practice literature and on your websites, and patients should not have to ask for it
• you should tell patients whether treatment is guaranteed, in what circumstances and for how long

So a website with no fees page, or one that says only "please call for prices", falls short of the Standards.

Where the ASA and CAP Code come in

The GDC regulates you as a professional. The Advertising Standards Authority regulates the advertising itself, under the CAP Code, which also covers marketing claims on your own website and social media. The rules that matter most for practices:

• Evidence. Rule 3.7 says you must hold documentary evidence for claims consumers would regard as objective, before you publish them.
• Testimonials. Rule 3.47 says you must hold evidence that a testimonial is genuine, and contact details for the person who gave it. Rule 3.45 says incentivised reviews must be made clear. These are in the ASA's misleading advertising section.
• Before and after photos. The ASA's dental advice says they must be genuine and representative, with signed and dated proof held.
• Prescription-only medicines. The ASA's guidance on Botox says it cannot be advertised to the public under CAP rule 12.12. You can advertise consultations instead.
• Teeth whitening. The same dental advice says whitening results must not be exaggerated, for example by editing images, and that you need evidence the product really whitens teeth.

The NHS logo

NHS England's primary care logo guidelines allow contractors such as dental practices to use the NHS primary care logo on information about the NHS services they provide. They say it must not be used to promote private services, and should be used in proportion to the NHS services you offer. On a mixed practice website, keep the logo to your NHS information.

A five-minute self-check

1. Does every clinician named on the site show their qualification, country of qualification and GDC number?
2. Does the footer show address, phone, email, a GDC link and the last-updated date?
3. Does the complaints page name the NHS body and the Dental Complaints Service?
4. Is it clear whether you are NHS, mixed or private?
5. Search the site for "specialist", "specialising" and "pain-free". Is each use justified?
6. Are prices on the website?
7. Do you hold proof for every testimonial and before and after photo?

Compliance and visibility are not in conflict. A clear, accurate, well-structured practice website is exactly what patients and search engines respond to. For the wider checklist, including the pages patients look for, see our guide to SEO for dental practices, and for the marketing picture as a whole, marketing for dentists.