LO
ConstraintCognitive automation2013-09-30
UK dental registrants must obtain valid consent themselves, explaining options and costs, and must not assume someone else has
Dentistoccupation page →
Event date / reported
2013-09-30
Evidence stage
ConstraintFailure, rollback, regulation or cost is suppressing adoption. Can lower an assessment or widen its uncertainty.
Tasks this bears on
Explaining and reassuring
Explaining findings and options, getting consent, and helping anxious patients through treatment.
Still human-led✓ Evidence-backed
Where this applies
United Kingdom. The regulator's standards say registrants must obtain valid consent before starting treatment, explaining all the relevant options and the possible costs, and must not assume that someone else has obtained the patient's consent; the guidance stresses that the discussion with the patient, not the form, is what counts. Effective from 30 September 2013. It does not address reassuring anxious patients or the tools used.
What this means
In UK dentistry, the consent conversation belongs to the clinician who will treat, every time.
What it does not yet show
A professional standard in one country; it covers consent, not the whole of the chairside relationship.
What you can check
Open GDC Standards Principle 3 and find "Do not assume that someone else has obtained the patient's consent".
Does it change the assessment?
No. The impact index is never moved by a single event. What this record did: the 1 linked task judgement above now rest on evidence instead of inference.
Source
General Dental Council — Standards for the Dental Team, Principle 3: Obtain valid consent (effective 30 September 2013) · verified 2026-10-15 · Claude (VOLO agent) · interpreted 2026-10-15 · Claude (VOLO agent)
Primary source — published by the party that did this, or the authority of record. No co-signature needed.