What it is

Two exams. Part 1 is written, on a computer. Part 2 is practical — you treat and are watched by examiners. Pass both and you can join the GDC list.

What you need before you apply

• Your dental degree checked by UK ENIC, the office that compares foreign degrees to British ones.
• 1,600 hours of clinical experience where you personally treated patients in the chair. University training and internship both count. Watching or assisting does not count.
• English. The GDC names IELTS Academic 7.0 overall with no less than 6.5 in each of the four skills, normally under two years old.

Two rules that end people's plans

• 4 tries at each part. Fail one part four times and you can never sit the ORE again.
• You must pass Part 2 within 5 years of your first Part 1 attempt.

What to do

1. Sort your English evidence first. Nothing moves without it.
2. Open a MyGDC account, apply, pay the £115 ORE application fee.
3. Wait for the GDC to confirm you are eligible.
4. Book through MyGDC the minute booking opens. Seats go in minutes.

What it is

Three exams. Part 1 is written, taken from home. Part 2 is two days in London. Part 3 is one day of hands-on work on a dental mannequin. Pass all three and you can join the GDC list.

Why many people now prefer it

• Many more seats. 1,000 Part 1 seats in 2026, doubling to 2,000 a year from 2027.
• Your tries are counted separately from the ORE. If the ORE went badly this is a fresh start — and you are allowed to do both.
• Around half the cost of the ORE.

The rules

• 4 tries at Part 1. 3 tries at Part 2. 3 tries at Part 3.
• Part 2 must be sat within 5 years of passing Part 1.
• Part 2 changed in June 2026: a 12-station practical exam plus case discussions with examiners, both passed in the same visit.

What to do

1. Email [email protected] and ask them to check you are eligible.
2. Watch the exam page — booking opens about three months before each sitting.
3. Book and pay online. Part 1 results arrive about six weeks later.

What it is

Your existing dental degree counts as the first three years. You study the final two years in Preston, in the north of England — 18 months of teaching across two academic years. The GDC has approved the whole programme, and now lists it beside the ORE and LDS as a route to registration.

The university says it plainly: you can apply without the ORE, and after you graduate you never have to take it.

What you need

• A dental degree from outside the UK and Europe, with a UK ENIC statement.
• IELTS 7.0 in all four parts — higher than the GDC asks for.
• 600 hours of dental work since you qualified, within the last 5 years, confirmed in a letter by a registered dentist. You cannot confirm it yourself.
• A letter of good standing from your dental council at home.
• Pass their entry test in Preston: a two-hour written paper, then a practical exam.
• Not open to British citizens.

What to do

1. Start your ENIC certificate and your 600-hour letter now — these take longest.
2. Apply on the course page and pay the deposit.
3. Sit the entry test in Preston: written 15 December 2026, practical 17 December 2026.
4. Get your student visa and start in March 2027.

What it is

Permission to work as a dentist in one named job, supervised by a senior UK dentist, for training, teaching or research. It is not a general licence and it does not let you work in an ordinary dental clinic.

The rule everyone gets wrong

You must be offered the job first. Only then can you apply. The GDC does not find jobs for you and keeps no list of vacancies.

Which jobs the GDC accepts

• Dental Senior House Officer (SHO) posts — also called Dental Foundation Year 2 or Career Development Posts. You need a letter from the postgraduate deanery confirming the post is suitable for training.
• Dental Core Training posts marked suitable for temporary registrants.
• Royal College training placements approved by NACPDE.
• Specialty Registrar posts — the deanery letter must give your training number and the programme dates.
• Teaching and research posts — contact the GDC Registration Team first for guidance.
• Army and Navy personnel exchange programmes.

What you must prove

• Your qualification is recognised. Contact UK ENIC and get their letter. You do not need it if you have already applied for the ORE and the GDC Examinations Team accepted your qualification.
• 1,600 hours of clinical experience, personally treating patients in the chair, from your degree, after qualifying, or both. Observing or assisting does not count. Your previous employer or the Dean of your dental school signs the declaration in the form.
• English. Accepted evidence is a recent dental degree taught and examined in English, a recent language test passed for registration in an English-speaking country, recent practice in an English-speaking country, or an IELTS certificate at the right level.

The documents, exactly

1. Completed application form — dated within the last three months, because the character and clinical references inside it expire after three months.
2. Certified copy of your valid passport.
3. Certified copy of a change-of-name document, if that applies to you.
4. Certified copy of your primary dental degree.
5. An authorised English translation of it, if it is not in English.
6. A certificate of good standing from the regulator where you last practised, less than three months old. The original must be sent, not a copy.
7. An authorised English translation of that certificate, if needed.
8. Your evidence of English.
9. Your UK ENIC letter, if this is your first application.

What it will never do

It does not turn into full registration. After the full five years you are exactly where you started. You still need the ORE, the LDS or a UK degree. It is also not accepted for the NHS foundation training year.

What an SHO post is

Senior House Officer is the old name for a junior hospital doctor or dentist grade. In dentistry the GDC still names the "Dental Senior House Officer post" as a post suitable for temporary registration, and notes it may also be advertised as a Dental Foundation Year 2 or Career Development Post. Most sit in oral and maxillofacial surgery, oral surgery or restorative departments.

Why this route matters

National Dental Core Training recruitment happens once a year and closes in January. Individual NHS trusts fill gaps all year round — maternity cover, resignations, new funding — and advertise those themselves. Those adverts are open to anyone eligible, and many are suitable for temporary registration.

Where they are advertised

1. jobs.nhs.uk — the main NHS jobs site. Search "dental SHO", "dental core trainee", "oral surgery SHO", "maxillofacial SHO".
2. TRAC — many trusts run recruitment through it; adverts link out from NHS Jobs.
3. bdjjobs.com — the British Dental Journal jobs board. The GDC notes hospital vacancies do appear here.
4. Individual NHS trust websites, under "Working for us".
5. A direct, well-written email to the consultant or the department's clinical lead.

What to do

1. Get your UK ENIC letter and your 1,600-hour declaration ready before you apply. Trusts move fast and will not wait.
2. Apply, and say in the first line that you would need temporary registration and, if relevant, visa sponsorship. Hiding it wastes everyone's time and costs you the reference.
3. If offered, ask the trust to get the deanery letter confirming the post is suitable for training. Nothing reaches the GDC without it.
4. Submit your temporary registration application with the full document set — see option 04.
5. The trust's HR team arranges the Certificate of Sponsorship if you need a visa.

What it is

A one-year hospital job in oral surgery, children's dentistry, orthodontics, restorative dentistry and other areas. Three levels: DCT1, DCT2, DCT3. One national application, on one website.

Who can apply

• DCT1: at least 12 months working as a dentist since you qualified.
• DCT2: 24 months. DCT3: 36 months.
• Registered with the GDC — full or temporary — by the day the job starts. When you apply it is enough to say you will be.

The detail nobody tells you

Not every one of these jobs accepts temporary registration. A spreadsheet is published each year showing which do. When you rank your choices, move every job marked "not suitable for temporary GDC registrants" into the Not wanted column — otherwise you can be offered a job you are not allowed to take.

What to do

1. Make an account on oriel.nhs.uk before January.
2. Download the posts spreadsheet from the NHS England dental site and filter for temporary-registration posts.
3. Apply in the January window. Late applications are never accepted.
4. Sit the online test in March, then interview in April or May.
5. Offers in May. Jobs start in September.
6. If you need a visa, the NHS overseas sponsorship team issues the Certificate of Sponsorship once you accept.

What it is

A structured training placement on a special exchange visa. An office called NACPDE, inside the Royal College of Surgeons, is the official national visa sponsor for dentists and issues the Certificate of Sponsorship directly.

Who can apply

• A dental degree recognised by UK ENIC and the GDC.
• You have finished postgraduate dental training in your own country.
• IELTS at GDC level, and a certificate of good standing.
• You have no right to live in the UK already — this is for people coming from abroad.
• You intend to return home afterwards and use the training there.
• Refugees and asylum seekers cannot use this route.
• Money in place: hospital salary, employer funding or a scholarship. UKVI also requires a minimum bank balance held for 90 days.

What to do

1. Find a UK hospital consultant willing to host you. Email departments directly with your CV and a clear training objective. This is the hard part.
2. Email [email protected] with your CV and the consultant's details.
3. Complete their form and send your funding letter, IELTS, certificates and hospital confirmation.
4. NACPDE gets Postgraduate Dental Dean approval, then issues the visa paperwork.
5. Apply separately to the GDC for temporary registration.

What it is

A full-time clinical programme in one specialty — endodontics, periodontics, prosthodontics, orthodontics, paediatric dentistry, oral surgery and others. You treat your own list of patients in a dental hospital under specialist supervision, and the teaching is mapped to the GDC's specialty curriculum.

UCL Eastman states its Advanced Training MClinDent programmes are "primarily intended for international students who are not eligible to apply for NHS specialty training programmes." That is exactly the audience reading this page.

What it costs — and this is the real number

At UCL Eastman the 2026/27 rate is £70,300 a year for overseas students and £41,800 a year for UK students. That is a fee for each year, not a price for the course. Three years full time comes to about £210,900 at the overseas rate and about £125,400 at the UK rate. Part time costs less a year and runs longer — £50,600 a year over four years for Prosthodontics, £35,150 a year for the Endodontics MSc.

Read the fee line on any programme page slowly before you plan around it. UCL labels the row "Tuition fees (2026/27)" — a fee year, not a total — and the deposit is "charged at 10% of the first year fee". The same £70,300 appears against a one-year MSc and a three-year MClinDent, which is what gives it away. Fees are held for your cohort, so they do not rise mid-course. There is a £120 application fee. Other schools — King's, Queen Mary, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Cardiff, Bristol, Newcastle — run comparable programmes at their own prices.

When to apply

These programmes start in September, and applications open about 11 months before. UCL Eastman opened on 20 October for the last cycle and closed between late January and late February — Prosthodontics on 30 January, Endodontology on 27 February. So for a September 2027 start, expect the window to open around 20 October 2026. That is weeks away, not months.

What you need

• An approved dental qualification.
• Usually a minimum of three years' clinical experience after qualifying.
• The university's English requirement, which is separate from the GDC's.

What it leads to

Being in the final year of a UK or Ireland clinical masters or clinical doctorate that parallels NHS specialty training makes you eligible to sit the new Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations — see option 10. That is the point of these programmes.

How to apply

1. Pick the programme and the school. Check the specialty, whether it is full or part time, and the total fee for all the years — not the yearly one.
2. Get your degree assessed if the school asks for it, and sort your English evidence. The university's requirement is separate from the GDC's and is often higher.
3. Gather your three years of clinical experience evidence, references and a personal statement.
4. Apply online through the school's own system when the window opens — for UCL Eastman that is around 20 October, through UCL Eastman admissions. There is a £120 processing fee.
5. Before you pay the deposit, email the programme lead and get the GDC registration arrangement in writing.

What it is

Membership of the Faculty of Dental Surgery. A two-part postgraduate qualification from the Royal Colleges, taken after your dental degree. It is a general professional qualification, not a specialist one.

Why it suddenly matters

Holding the MFDS is a requirement for the new Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations. The Royal College calls it "an essential step before taking the Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations". If becoming a UK-recognised specialist is your ambition, this is the first exam, not an optional extra.

Who can sit it

• You hold a primary dental qualification, from a school on the World Directory of Medical Schools register.
• You are registered to practise dentistry in your country of residence — not necessarily with the GDC.
• English to about IELTS 7, because the exam is in English.
• Clinical experience matching the UK dental core training curricula (COPDEND).
• If your qualification is not GDC-recognised, a UK ENIC certificate and a Statement of Comparability against First Five Years: A Framework for Undergraduate Dental Education (3rd edition, interim). Allow about 15 days — and you need it before you apply, not after.
• Four attempts at Part 1.

How to apply

1. Check your dental school is on the World Directory of Medical Schools register.
2. If your qualification is not GDC-recognised, order your UK ENIC certificate and Statement of Comparability now. It takes about 15 days and you need it before you apply, not with the application.
3. Get proof you are registered to practise in your country of residence, and your English evidence.
4. Open the RCS England MFDS Part 1 page and follow it through to the Dental Examinations Executive booking platform, which is where the new exam is booked.
5. Book a UK assessment centre and pay the £535 for the part.
6. Anything unclear about legacy versus new: email [email protected] before you pay.

What has changed

The UK surgical Royal Colleges have replaced the old membership exams — MOrth, MEndo, MPerio, MPros and others — with a single set of Dental Specialty Fellowship Examinations, built jointly by the Colleges of England, Edinburgh and Glasgow. They cover ten specialties, and go live from September 2026. The legacy exams had their last sittings in August 2026, with resits only in spring 2027.

The reason this matters: the new framework was designed with a newly established open access route, deliberately opening these exams to people outside the traditional UK training pathway.

Everyone must have all of these

• A primary dental qualification acceptable to the Colleges.
• The MFDS — see option 09.
• Registration with a recognised dental regulator in your country of practice. It does not have to be the GDC.
• You should be training or practising in the specialty you are applying in.
• English to about IELTS 7 — the exam is entirely in English.

Then one of these three routes

1. Training number route. Enough UK specialty training, certified by your Training Programme Director.
2. University route. You are in the final year of a UK or Ireland postgraduate clinical masters or clinical doctorate that parallels the UK training programme. This is the MClinDent route.
3. Open access route. For UK, Ireland or international candidates who meet neither of the above: enough experience working in the specialty to demonstrate the outcomes in the GDC specialty curriculum.

The thirteen lists

Dental and maxillofacial radiology · dental public health · endodontics · oral and maxillofacial pathology · oral medicine · oral microbiology · oral surgery · orthodontics · paediatric dentistry · periodontics · prosthodontics · restorative dentistry · special care dentistry.

Route one — the CCST

A Certificate of Completion of Specialist Training is awarded by one of the three surgical Royal Colleges when you finish an approved UK specialist training programme. A university does not award it. A masters does not produce one. You reach it through NHS specialty training with a national training number — see option 12.

Route two — the assessed, or portfolio, application

If you do not hold a CCST, you can send the GDC evidence that your knowledge, skill and experience reach the level a UK specialist would have. You must show how you meet every Higher Learning Outcome in the GDC curriculum for that specialty — not simply list your CV. Orthodontics and oral surgery have extra European routes, and holders of restorative dentistry can apply separately for endodontics, periodontics or prosthodontics.

What to do now, even years early

1. Download the GDC application pack for your specialty and read the Higher Learning Outcomes while you still work at home. Some evidence cannot be recreated later.
2. Start the portfolio today: case logs with outcomes, audits, teaching, supervision records, publications, structured references.
3. Map every piece of evidence to a named learning outcome as you collect it.
4. Get GDC registered.
5. Then submit. There is no fee for a specialist list application.

What it is

A funded NHS training programme with a national training number, ending in a CCST and specialist list entry. Applications go through Oriel, the same website as the hospital jobs. This is the only route that produces a CCST.

What ST1 actually asks for

• Full GDC registration — or a fully UK-registerable dental qualification — by the day the post starts. Not by the application date.
• The right to work as a dentist in training in the UK.
• At least 3 months whole-time-equivalent clinical work within a dentist's scope of practice in the previous two years.
• The GDC's English requirement.
• The MFDS is listed as desirable for entry, not essential — unlike the Fellowship exams, where it is required.

The normal order

1. Pass the ORE or LDS, or take a UK dental degree → full registration.
2. One to three years of Dental Core Training. This is where the portfolio the interview panel scores gets built.
3. MFDS or MJDF.
4. Apply for specialty training on Oriel.

2027 dates, already confirmed

• Adverts 5 January 2027
• Applications open 7 January, close 28 January 2027 at 4pm — no late applications
• Interviews 8 March – 19 May 2027; first offers 20 May 2027
• Jobs start September 2027. Orthodontics runs its own shorter timeline.

What it is

Jobs called Clinical Teaching Fellow or Clinical Demonstrator. You supervise dental students in the university clinic. Glasgow, Newcastle, Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Cardiff and the London schools all advertise them.

Who gets them

Dentists with several years of experience and something specific to teach — a specialty interest, a masters, a research record. A newly qualified dentist will not get one.

Where to look

1. jobs.ac.uk — the main UK university jobs site.
2. University job sites directly, such as jobs.gla.ac.uk and jobs.ncl.ac.uk.
3. jobs.nhs.uk for the trust side of joint posts.
4. bdjjobs.com.
5. A direct email to the head of department offering something specific you can teach.

What it is

You sit in with a UK hospital dental team and watch them work. UK visitor rules specifically permit overseas dental graduates to do an unpaid clinical attachment or dental observer post.

The rules — take them seriously

• No pay. None at all.
• You cannot treat patients. You watch, and help with small tasks under supervision.
• Up to 6 months as a standard visitor.
• You must not have done one in the UK before.
• You need written confirmation of the offer to show at the border.

What to do

1. Choose a department, not a hospital — oral surgery, maxillofacial, children's dentistry, restorative.
2. Email the consultant. One page: who you are, what you have done, what you want to observe, exact dates, and that it is unpaid and observation only.
3. The trust runs occupational health and a police check, and issues an honorary contract. Allow two to three months.
4. Apply for the standard visitor visa with the offer letter and evidence you can support yourself.

What it is

You do not need to be on the GDC list to work as a trainee dental nurse, provided you are enrolled on an approved dental nursing course and supervised. From 1 June 2026 you must start that course within 12 months of starting work.

Why overseas dentists do it

• You learn how a UK practice really runs — the paperwork, the software, the way patients speak.
• UK references and a UK work history.
• Paid, while you study for your exam.
• The practice that knows you often hires you as a dentist later.

What to do

1. Enrol on a GDC-approved dental nursing course. Many are part time or online.
2. Apply for trainee posts on Indeed and NHS Jobs, and email practices directly.
3. Say clearly you are an overseas dentist preparing for the ORE or LDS. Practices value it.

What it is

A degree at a UK dental school — Manchester, Queen Mary London, Portsmouth, Lancashire and many more. You qualify to do fillings, children's extractions, gum treatment and prevention, working independently within that scope.

Why consider it

• No attempt limits, no four tries, no five-year clock.
• Therapists are in demand and paid well.
• The student visa route is straightforward, and the graduate visa follows.

Be clear about one thing

You register as a therapist, not a dentist. A different job, not a smaller version of the same one. International fees run to roughly £20,000–£30,000 a year, though this varies a good deal between schools — check the fee page of the course you are actually applying to rather than planning on the range.

How to apply

1. Find GDC-approved programmes only — a course the GDC does not approve does not lead to registration. The list is on the GDC approved providers page.
2. Check that school's own international fee for the specific course, and its English requirement.
3. Most are applied for through UCAS; some take direct applications. The course page says which.
4. Check the visa position before you commit — see the Finding work tab. Therapists sit in a different, much harder immigration category than dentists.
5. On finishing, apply to the GDC for registration in that title.

What it is

A taught MSc or a research MPhil/PhD in a non-clinical subject — dental public health, materials, oral biology, education, epidemiology. Distance-learning MSc programmes also exist, which you can do from home.

What it is genuinely good for

• A student visa, then a graduate visa — two years, or three after a PhD, with full permission to work. That unlocks the trainee dental nurse route and makes teaching posts realistic.
• Credibility for teaching and research jobs.
• Evidence for a specialist list portfolio, years later.
• You are inside a dental school, meeting the consultants who hire.

Funded PhD studentships exist and pay a stipend. They are competitive, but they are the one version of this route that does not cost you money.

How to apply

1. Decide funded or self-funded first — it changes everything about how you apply.
2. For funded places, search FindAPhD and the dental schools' own research pages, and apply to the advertised project.
3. For self-proposed work, email a potential supervisor with a short proposal before making a formal application. An academic who wants to supervise you is worth more than a perfect form.
4. Apply through the university's postgraduate research system with your proposal, transcripts, references and English evidence.
5. Ask in writing whether the degree involves treating patients. If it does, you will need GDC registration for it — normally temporary registration arranged by the university.

What full registration does not include

• It is not a job.
• It is not a visa.
• It is not NHS access. For that you need a performer number.

Two ways to get it

1. Dental Foundation Training — a paid year in an approved training practice, applied for on Oriel. You must already hold full registration; temporary registration is not accepted.
2. The equivalence route, previously called PLVE. Instead of repeating a training year you have a structured conversation with NHS England about your experience, then work with a supervisor in practice. There is no fee.

What equivalence asks for

• References from two recent posts, each lasting at least 3 months without a significant break, one of them usually your current job. "Recent" means working within a dentist's full scope of practice in the previous two years.
• You apply through PCSE Online, which asks for your GDC number on the first screen.

How long the supervised period lasts

It is not a fixed year. The length is set for you, from your experience:

• Minimum 3 months, for a dentist with recent clinical experience in general dental practice.
• Maximum 12 months, on a full-time working pattern.
• You must work at least 3 clinical days a week throughout — a one-day-a-week arrangement does not count and will not finish.

How you actually apply

1. Get your full GDC registration first. Nothing here starts before that.
2. Find a practice with an approved supervisor who will take you on — see the warning below.
3. Register on PCSE Online as a Performers List applicant and complete the application.
4. Have the structured conversation with NHS England about your knowledge, skills and experience. Since 1 April 2023 this has replaced the old separate PLVE application form, and no fee is payable to NHS England.
5. Work your supervised period, then get added to the performers list and issued your performer number.

What it is

An associate is a dentist who works in a practice they do not own. In the UK almost all of them are self-employed, not employees — NHS Health Careers puts it plainly: "Most NHS dentists working in dental practices are self-employed contractors." You are paid a share of what you bill, you pay your own tax, and you buy your own indemnity insurance.

The thing nobody tells you

How you get paid

• NHS work is paid per UDA — a Unit of Dental Activity. A check-up is 1 UDA, a filling 3, a denture 12. You agree a rate per UDA and a yearly target.
• Private work is paid as a percentage of what you bill, and you usually pay the lab bill out of your share.
• Both are gross, not take-home. Tax, indemnity, GDC fee and lab costs come out of it.

How to get one

1. Have your GDC registration and your registration number. Practices ask for it in the first email.
2. Buy indemnity insurance before you treat anybody. You cannot work without it and the practice will ask for the certificate.
3. Write a short CV that names your years of clinical experience, the procedures you do routinely, and whether you hold a performer number yet. Say plainly if you do not — a mixed practice can still take you on privately while it comes through.
4. Apply through BDJ Jobs, the groups' own careers sites, and directly to practices near where you will live. See the Finding work tab for the full list.
5. Ask every practice the same three questions: the UDA rate, the annual UDA target, and the private percentage. Those three numbers are your income.
6. Have the contract checked before you sign it — the BDA does this for members.
7. Register as self-employed with HMRC, and put money aside for tax from the first month. Nobody deducts it for you.

What it is

NHS England accredits experienced dentists to deliver Level 2 complexity care — work that is harder than ordinary general practice but does not need a hospital specialist. Its own guidance notes the names people use for it vary: "a 'Level 2' or 'Tier 2' dentist, or a 'dentist with special interests'". Oral surgery, endodontics, periodontics and sedation are the usual areas.

Why it matters to you

This is the honest answer to "can I use my specialty training without redoing everything?" You are not a registered specialist and must never call yourself one — but you can be paid to do the referred work, in the specialty you trained in, years before a specialist list application would be possible.

How you get it

• You must already hold full GDC registration and, for NHS work, a performer number.
• A Local Accreditation Panel assesses you — specialists in the field, members of the local managed clinical network, NHS commissioners and the local dental committee.
• You evidence competence in that specific area of practice, not general seniority.
• Accreditation is local. It is agreed with the commissioners in one area, so it does not automatically travel with you.

How to apply

1. Get the basics in place first: full GDC registration, and a performer number if the work is NHS.
2. Ask your local NHS England dental team, or the managed clinical network for that specialty, whether Level 2 care is commissioned in your area and whether they are accrediting.
3. Build the evidence deliberately — cases in that one area of practice, with outcomes, plus relevant training and mentoring. General seniority does not substitute for it.
4. Submit to the Local Accreditation Panel using their form. Read NHS England's own guidance first so you evidence what they actually assess.
5. If you move to another commissioning area, ask early whether your accreditation is accepted there — it is agreed locally and may need doing again.

What it is

Ireland has its own regulator and its own two-part registration exam. A separate country with separate rules — not part of the UK.

How it differs

• No booking race. You apply in one week each January and places are allocated by random selection.
• But 80% of places go to people already living and established in Ireland. Only 20% go to applicants abroad.
• English: OET Grade B or IELTS Academic 7.0, minimum in all four parts, taken within two years. Unlike the GDC, Ireland does accept OET.

2026 dates

• Apply during the week commencing 12 January 2026
• Part 1, Dublin: 25–28 March 2026
• Part 2, Cork: 15–18 June 2026

How to apply

1. Read the current rules on the Dental Council of Ireland registration pages — the exam details, dates and fees are all published there.
2. Apply in the one application week each January. Miss it and you wait a year; places are then allocated by random selection, so applying early in the week gains you nothing.
3. Have your qualification documents, certificate of good standing and English evidence ready before the week opens. Ireland accepts OET grade B or IELTS 7.0, within two years, across all four modules — so an OET certificate that the GDC will not take is accepted here.
4. Sit Part 1 in Dublin, then Part 2 in Cork.
5. On passing, apply to the Dental Council for registration.