Special Care Dentistry is a specialty described by the General Dental Council (GDC) as concerning the "improvement of the oral health of individuals and groups with physical, sensory, intellectual, mental, medical, emotional or social impairment or disability".

This guidance refers to the application process for an individual specialty. You should read this guidance alongside the dental specialty training recruitment applicant information.

Information:

View the dental specialty training recruitment applicant information.

Eligibility for specialty training

Most dentists will have completed at least 1 year of Dental Core Training (DCT) before applying to specialty training. By the time you're appointed to a specialty training post, you must have completed DCT2 or equivalent (as demonstrated by National Certificate of Dental Core Equivalence (NCDCE)).

You must be registered with the GDC before training begins.

Information:

For more information visit the dental specialty training eligibility page.

Special Care dentistry curriculum

The content of the curriculum was developed by Specialty Advisory Committees who report to the relevant Dental Faculties of the Royal Colleges. 

View the Special Care Dentistry curriculum on the GDC's website.

Page last reviewed: 2 October 2023

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