Aipedia: Dentists

GDC and AI: what dental professionals must do

Aipedia, by the Apex broking team · Last reviewed 2026-10-27

The GDC has no AI-specific standard, so dental professionals must apply the existing Standards for the Dental Team to every AI tool they use. Those duties decide fitness to practise questions and shape how indemnity responds to AI-assisted care.

Part of: AI in Dentists

In short

The GDC has not issued AI guidance for practising registrants, and its Standards for the Dental Team (effective 30 September 2013) do not mention AI. Existing duties carry the weight: follow relevant law (1.9), keep accurate contemporaneous records (4.1), protect confidentiality and security (4.2 to 4.5), keep accountability when delegating (6.3.1) and work from evidence within your competence (7.1 to 7.3). The GDC's 15 October 2026 research on AI in dental education feeds its education standards. It also signed the 17 September 2026 joint regulator statement, and the government has accepted all 44 National Commission recommendations.

What the GDC has and has not published

The GDC is the statutory regulator of dentists and dental care professionals in the UK. As at October 2026 it has not published guidance or a standard on AI for practising registrants. The Standards for the Dental Team came into effect on 30 September 2013 and do not refer to AI. That is not a gap in regulation: the standards are written around outcomes, so they apply to an AI tool in the same way as to a colleague's report or a laboratory prescription.

What the GDC has published is research. On 15 October 2026 it released Understanding the Role of AI in Dental Education, a rapid evidence assessment by Queen Mary University of London drawing on 75 studies plus interviews. Its findings are relevant to practice, not just training:

AI may weaken clinical reasoning and judgement, and tools can give confident but wrong answers.
AI was least reliable in image-based areas such as reading radiographs, and should support, not replace, diagnosis.
It recommended clear rules on acceptable AI use, assessments that test students' own reasoning, training on checking AI outputs and stronger information governance.

The GDC says it will consider the report for its education standards.

How the existing standards apply to AI

Standard	What it says	What it means for AI
1.8	Have arrangements for patients to seek compensation if harmed	Your indemnity must respond to the way you actually practise, including AI-assisted care.
1.9	Find out about and follow laws and regulations affecting your work	MHRA device rules, IR(ME)R and data protection law all apply to AI tools.
Principle 3	Obtain valid consent	Where AI influences diagnosis or a plan, patients need enough information to decide.
4.1	Contemporaneous, complete and accurate records	AI-drafted notes must be checked; guidance 4.1.4 says records should identify the treating clinician.
4.2 to 4.5	Confidentiality, limited disclosure and security	Patient data should not go into tools that are not approved for it.
6.3.1	"You can delegate the responsibility for a task but not the accountability."	The same logic applies by analogy when you rely on an AI output.
7.1 to 7.3	Evidence-based care, work within competence, keep skills up to date	Know a tool's limits and keep the skills to check it.
Principle 8	Raise concerns if patients are at risk	This includes unsafe systems, such as a tool that repeatedly misses pathology.

The full text is on the GDC standards site. All of these are binding standards; failing to meet them can lead to a fitness to practise investigation.

The joint regulator statement and the National Commission

On 17 September 2026 the GDC signed the Joint Statement of Intent led by the Professional Standards Authority, which oversees the GDC. Signatories committed to develop UK-wide, high-level principles on professionals' use of AI. It is a statement of intent, not guidance, and no timetable has been confirmed.

The National Commission into the Regulation of AI in Healthcare reported on 10 September 2026, and the government response of 6 October 2026 accepted all 44 recommendations. Two matter most for dentistry. Recommendation 24 sets up a working group on professional responsibilities, with NHS England and NHS Resolution indemnity guidance to follow; how far that reaches high street dentistry is unclear. Recommendation 35 concerns telling patients when AI is used, covered in our guide to telling dental patients you use AI.

One dental defence organisation welcomed the recommendations on 22 October 2026 but noted that the Commission did not recommend modernising product liability law, and warned that dentists could become "liability sinks" for AI harm they do not design or control.

Other rules that apply alongside the GDC

MHRA: regulates AI software that is a medical device, such as radiograph analysis tools. A classification consultation is on the watch list for 2027.
IR(ME)R 2017: regulation 12(9) requires a recorded clinical evaluation of each exposure.
NHS England: its ambient scribing guidance applies to dental practices using AI scribes and requires MHRA registration for summarising tools, DCB0129 and DCB0160, a DPIA, clinician review and telling patients.
Data protection: radiographs and scans are special category health data. Automated decision rules under the Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 have been fully in force since 5 February 2026.
CQC: registers and inspects dental providers in England, so practice-level governance of AI is also an inspection matter.

What it means in practice and for indemnity

Until the GDC says more, a sensible test is whether you could explain to the GDC, a patient and your indemnifier what the tool did, what you checked and why you made the decision. In practice that means:

using tools whose regulatory status you have confirmed;
recording your own interpretation, not just the AI output;
keeping patient data within approved systems;
making sure every team member using AI is trained, competent and indemnified;
reporting unsafe tools.

For indemnity, the GDC requires cover appropriate to your scope of practice but sets no minimum limit, and it does not address AI. One defence organisation's published position offers help only where a human remains the decision maker. See does dental indemnity cover AI mistakes, AI radiograph analysis and AI scribes and clinical notes, or return to the dentistry AI hub. For the cross-profession view, see does PI cover AI mistakes and the medical guidance explained.

Apex arranges indemnity for dental professionals and practices; a broker can review how your cover treats AI-assisted care.

Sources

Frequently asked

Is there a GDC standard on AI?

No. As at October 2026 the GDC has not published AI guidance or a standard for practising registrants. The Standards for the Dental Team apply to AI in the same way as to any other tool, and breaching them can still lead to fitness to practise action.

Is the joint regulator statement binding?

No. The 17 September 2026 statement is a commitment by the PSA and regulators, including the GDC, to develop shared high-level principles on professionals' use of AI. It creates no new duty today, but the principles that follow may lead the GDC to issue profession-specific guidance.

Does the GDC research apply to qualified dentists?

It was commissioned for dental education, and the GDC will consider it for its education standards. Its findings, such as AI being least reliable on images and tools giving confident but wrong answers, are still relevant evidence of known risks that a practising dentist should take into account.

Check your indemnity covers how you use AI

Tell us about your practice and the work you do. A broker will review how your current cover treats AI-assisted work, or arrange new cover. No fee for a quote. Or call 0117 325 0027.

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Apex Insurance Brokers Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered in England and Wales, company number 07014570. This page is general information about how AI is used in the profession and how insurance may respond. It is not legal, regulatory or insurance advice on your circumstances, and it does not guarantee that cover will be available or on what terms.