For dental practices · Last reviewed 22 September 2026
The rules a dental practice website has to follow.
What the GDC, the CAP Code, the NHS and the four UK health regulators say a practice website must show and must not claim — each rule with its source, how we build to it, and what stays with the practice. A working summary, not legal advice: the sources are linked so you can read them yourself.
Standards, Evidence, Obligations.
The GDC’s advertising guidance.
The General Dental Council’s guidance on advertising has applied since 30 September 2013, alongside its Standards for the Dental Team. It applies to every registrant named on the site.
Every dental professional named, with their qualification, its country and their GDC number
- How the build handles it
- A team page that asks for all three for every person it lists, and links each number to the register.
- What stays yours
- That every entry is accurate and current.
The practice’s name, address, email and telephone
- How the build handles it
- In the footer of every page, from one set of details.
- What stays yours
- Telling us when they change.
The GDC’s contact details, or a link to its website
- How the build handles it
- A link to the GDC in every footer.
- What stays yours
- —
The complaints procedure, and where a patient can go next
GDC, Standards for the Dental Team, 5.3 · Dental Complaints Service
- How the build handles it
- A complaints page naming the Dental Complaints Service for private treatment and the NHS route for NHS treatment.
- What stays yours
- The procedure itself, and who handles complaints.
The date the site was last updated
- How the build handles it
- Generated from the site every time anything is published; never typed by hand.
- What stays yours
- —
Whether the practice is NHS, mixed or wholly private — and, if mixed, which treatments are which
- How the build handles it
- A status line at the top of the homepage and on the new patients page, and NHS and private fees kept apart.
- What stays yours
- Saying which, and changing it when it changes.
Clear information on prices
You must give clear information on prices in your practice literature and on your websites – patients should not have to ask for this information.
- How the build handles it
- A fees page from one price list, with ranges where the cost depends on an examination.
- What stays yours
- The prices, and keeping them current.
Emergency and out-of-hours arrangements
- How the build handles it
- An emergencies page: what to do today, registered or not, and out of hours.
- What stays yours
- The arrangements themselves.
“Specialist” only for dentists on a GDC specialist list
- How the build handles it
- Titles checked before launch, and “special interest in” wherever it is the accurate wording.
- What stays yours
- Who holds which title.
“Dr” as a courtesy title, never implying a medical doctor
- How the build handles it
- Where “Dr” is used, the site says it is a courtesy title.
- What stays yours
- Whether each clinician uses it.
Claims that are accurate, backed by evidence, and set no unjustified expectation
- How the build handles it
- Copy written without comparisons between clinicians or promises about results, and checked with you before launch.
- What stays yours
- Every clinical claim, which a clinician at the practice checks.
The CAP Code and consumer law.
The Advertising Standards Authority applies the CAP Code to a practice’s own website as well as to its adverts, and refers dental complaints to the GDC.
No advertising of prescription-only medicines, such as botulinum toxin
- How the build handles it
- A consultation for lines and wrinkles can be advertised; the medicine is never named, pictured or offered, and indirect names such as “anti-wrinkle injections” are avoided too.
- What stays yours
- Whether you offer aesthetic treatment at all.
“Dr” clearly qualified as a courtesy title
- How the build handles it
- The qualification sits beside the title wherever it appears.
- What stays yours
- —
Before-and-after images that are genuine, representative and not retouched
- How the build handles it
- Each image is published with its consent recorded and dated, and never retouched.
- What stays yours
- The consent, and keeping the evidence.
Whitening claims backed by evidence
- How the build handles it
- No claims about shades or speed without the evidence behind them.
- What stays yours
- The evidence, where a claim is made.
No “faster” or “less painful” for braces and aligners without clinical trials
- How the build handles it
- Aligner pages that explain who the treatment suits and what it involves, without comparative claims.
- What stays yours
- —
Reviews shown fairly: none fake, none hidden, incentives disclosed
Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 · CMA guidance
- How the build handles it
- Reviews shown as they are, from where they are, never selected to hide the rest.
- What stays yours
- How reviews are asked for.
The NHS and the four health regulators.
What each regulator expects of a website differs across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, and one common assumption about the CQC is wrong.
The NHS primary care logo used only as its guidelines allow
- How the build handles it
- The logo in full, never the bare lozenge, linking only to pages about NHS services, and never beside private offers.
- What stays yours
- How much of your work is NHS.
NHS charges shown separately from private fees, and kept current
- How the build handles it
- NHS bands in their own table, with a reminder to update them every April.
- What stays yours
- Telling us which bands you offer.
The CQC does not rate dental practices
Some types of service are exempt from CQC’s legal duty to give a rating. These include: primary dental services…
- How the build handles it
- No rating is displayed, because there is none. The official “Regulated by CQC” graphic can link to your profile; the bare logo is never used.
- What stays yours
- —
Wales: the patient information leaflet published on the website
- How the build handles it
- A page holding the leaflet’s contents, in the order the regulations list them.
- What stays yours
- The leaflet itself.
Scotland and Northern Ireland: registration stated
- How the build handles it
- The registration shown where it applies.
- What stays yours
- The registration.
Data, cookies and access.
Forms that collect no more than they need
- How the build handles it
- Enquiry forms that do not ask about symptoms or medical history, because that would be health data. A privacy notice that says what is kept and for how long.
- What stays yours
- How enquiries are handled once they arrive.
No advertising cookies without consent
- How the build handles it
- Advertising and remarketing tags load only after a visitor agrees.
- What stays yours
- —
A site people can use whatever their needs
- How the build handles it
- Built to WCAG 2.2 AA, the benchmark regulators and courts look to.
- What stays yours
- —
What we promise, and what stays with the practice.
Each registrant is responsible for what the practice’s website says. We build a site that gives every rule above its proper place, and check your content against them before launch.
- 01
What we build
A place for every item above, a last-updated date that maintains itself, a fees page, and titles and images handled the way the rules require.
- 02
What we check
Before launch, every page against this list, with you. Anything that needs your decision is raised, not quietly changed.
- 03
What stays yours
The accuracy of every claim, title, qualification and price; consent for images and reviews; your complaints procedure; and keeping all of it current.
Want your current site read against this list? Send us the address and we will tell you what we find — free.
Sources, Evidence, Obligations.