What the GDC’s working-patterns data says about dental nurses

Polly Bhambra reports on the General Dental Council's latest analysis of DCP working patterns and what it means for dental nurses.

If you want to understand the health of UK dentistry, look first to the people who keep it moving: our dental nurses.

The General Dental Council’s latest analysis of dental care professionals’ (DCP) working patterns finally puts numbers behind what many of us have felt for years – a committed workforce, predominantly employed and overwhelmingly clinical, holding practices (and patients) together.

The question is: how do we turn these insights into action that improves careers, and retention?

What the data tells us

The GDC’s survey reached 43,692 DCPs (58% of the DCP register), representing 54,600 professional titles (64%).

Dental nurses are the largest group by far. And most respondents in the DCP dataset are dental nurses – more than three quarters.

That breadth gives the findings real weight in workforce planning conversations.

Look at employment status first.

Nearly nine in 10 dental nurses (88%) are employed. With a small proportion self-employed/locum (7%) and around 3% on parental leave.

In other words, dental nursing is structurally an employed profession, unlike dental hygiene and therapy where self-employment is far more common.

Any policy or practice solution that ignores this reality – from pay, to progression, to benefits – will miss the mark.

Now consider how we actually work.

Half of dental nurses work 30-40 hours a week. A further 28% work 20-30 hours – a clear signal that full-time and substantial part-time patterns dominate.

Most nurses are rooted to a single site: around 81% work in one location. With only 11% in two, and a tiny minority commuting between multiple sites (some even seven or more).

That stability is a strength for continuity of care and team culture – but it also means that flexibility needs designing into one workplace, not assumed via multi-site rotations.

Where do dental nurses work?

Two-thirds (66%) are in general practice, with around 13% in specialist practices and 5% in dental hospitals.

Geographically, the spread mirrors the wider system: 81% in England, 11% in Scotland, 5% in Wales and 3.3% in Northern Ireland.

If you’re commissioning services or recruiting, these are signals about where support and investment will land.

And what about the clinical/non-clinical balance?

Forty-four per cent of dental nurses report being fully clinical. With a further 25% split between clinical and non-clinical work.

That split role is important: it recognises the reality of what dental nurses actually do – decontamination, compliance, coordination, treatment planning support, patient communication – and why ‘chairside only’ job descriptions no longer reflect modern practice.

Finally, the funding mix.

More than a third (37%) of dental nurses say they provide a mix of NHS and private care; 22% are private-only with another 10% mostly private.

This is a workforce living the everyday reality of mixed practice. And juggling different expectations and administrative burdens within the same week.

Reading between the lines

1. 1. Employed status, limited ladders. When 88% of your workforce is employed, the onus falls on principals and managers to build clear career pathways: lead nurse roles, decon/compliance leads, treatment coordination, radiography, impression taking, fluoride varnish, mentoring and education. Without visible ladders, you can’t be surprised by attrition

2. With 44% fully clinical and a quarter splitting roles, contracts and rotas should explicitly value the “invisible” non-clinical work that keeps the CQC (and the surgery) happy. Build it into job plans, not as overtime favours.

3. Because most nurses work in a single location, flexibility has to come from smarter scheduling (eg, school-friendly shifts, predictable rotas, annualised hours), not from expecting people to fill gaps across multiple sites.

4. Operating across NHS and private lists requires different communication styles and time allocations. Invest in conversational skills and digital tools that help nurses manage that shift hour-to-hour.

5. With a visible cohort on parental leave, re-entry routes matter.

A guide for principals and managers

1) Write the job the way the work is actually done. If your nurses split clinical and non-clinical tasks, reflect that in contracts and pay banding.

Create protected time for compliance, stock, audits and patient follow-ups – and stop squeezing it into lunch.

Your governance will improve and burnout will fall.

2) Build a visible skills escalator. Map a nurse’s career from day one to senior leadership in your practice. Publish it. Talk about it. Fund it.

3) Rethink flexibility where it’s needed most – on one site.

Because 81% of dental nurses work in a single location, consider school-hours clinics, fixed ‘A-day/B-day’ rotas, and predictable Saturdays on rotation.

Small changes in predictability are often worth more than abstract promises of ‘flexibility’.

4) Train for mixed-model communication.

With 37% working across NHS and private in the same role, invest in short, scenario-based training.

Patients will feel better informed resulting in improved uptake.

5) Create a confident return pathway.

Offer refresher sessions for those coming back from parental leave, pair them with a mentor and stage their return over four to eight weeks.

You’ll hold onto talent and cut the time to full confidence.

6) Move beyond “years served” to “skills held” levels of pay.

If a nurse adds radiography or takes on decontamination leadership, reflect it in the pay packet.

It’s fair – and cheaper than replacing them.

7) Make recognition routine.

Whether it’s monthly shout-outs, CPD vouchers or nominating nurses for external awards, visible appreciation changes culture.

People stay where they feel seen.

A call to the profession

The GDC has given us the data; we need to supply the leadership.

If you’re a principal or manager, pick two changes you’ll make this quarter: publish a skills escalator; schedule protected non-clinical time; pilot a family-friendly rota; or launch a returner scheme.

Then measure the impact: retention, sickness, satisfaction, patient feedback.

If you’re a dental nurse reading this, know this: the profession is finally talking about you with numbers, not just anecdotes.

Use the data in your appraisal. Ask about the skills escalator. Put your hand up for that lead role.

Your work is the constant in a system that’s still finding its future.

I started my journey as a dental nurse.

Everything I’ve built since – practices, teams, training – rests on the truth this report underlines: dental nurses are not an afterthought.

They are the backbone.

Let’s design careers, rotas and recognition like we mean it.