The General Dental Council (GDC) has confirmed that the Annual Retention Fee (ARF) will be increased for both dentists and dental care professionals for 2026.
The ARF will now stand at £698 for dentists and £108 for dental care professionals (DCPs). This is roughly a 12.5% increase for all dental professionals, with last year’s fee at £621 and £96 respectively.
The increase follows a 12-week public consultation on the GDC’s strategy which took place over the summer. The regulator has now agreed its Corporate Strategy 2026-2028, which designates its strategic priorities and the funding it will need to realise them.
The GDC confirmed that it would adjust the ARF ‘as needed’ from 2027 onwards. However, it said that further rises would not exceed the rate of the consumer price index (CPI) except in ‘exceptional circumstances’.
The annual retention fee (ARF) is the annual fee paid by dental professionals to stay on the register, allowing them to practise in the UK. It has remained unchanged since reducing to £621 for dentists and £96 for DCPs for 2024.
‘Our regulator needs to justify how it uses every penny’
Tom Whiting, chief executive and registrar of the GDC, said: ‘Our vision is to be a trusted and effective regulator, supporting dental professionals to provide safe and effective care for their patients. We have a clear delivery plan to achieve our strategic ambitions and remain committed to protecting the public and maintaining public confidence in the dental professions.
‘We will provide transparency about the work we do to deliver our strategic ambitions and will measure and report on our progress. Council has approved the investment needed to achieve this transformation whilst considering affordability for dental professionals.’
The British Dental Association (BDA) said the regulator would need to demonstrate proper use of the additional money raised through the fee increase. BDA chair Eddie Crouch said: ‘Increases come when at a time when every dentist is under pressure from the mounting cost of care. Our regulator needs to justify how it uses every penny from a bill registrants have no choice but pay.’
‘Transparency, respect, inclusion and purposefulness’
The GDC said it has committed to deliver an additional 7% efficiency savings over the next five years. This will include money saved from modernising registration processes and using estates more effectively.
Helen Phillips, chair of the GDC, said: ‘Over the next few years, I am committed to nurturing relationships built on trust and support. Council’s priority is public protection by working with and through dental professionals.
‘By 2030, I want the GDC to be recognised as living by our values of transparency, respect, inclusion and purposefulness. We will be recognised as a regulator that operates with greater effectiveness across all our functions and works collaboratively as a valued partner across the sector.’
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