What is dental compliance?
Dental compliance is everything a dental practice in England has to do to meet the legal standards for safe, good-quality care, and to prove it when the Care Quality Commission (CQC) inspects. All dental practices in England that provide regulated activities must register with CQC, and have done since 2011. In practice, dental compliance means up-to-date policies being followed, staff files that are complete for every role, equipment that is serviced on time, infection control that follows HTM 01-05, medical emergency equipment that is checked, and clear records that show all of this is happening every week, not just the week before an inspection. CQC regulates dental care in England only. Practices in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland are regulated by their own bodies.
What does CQC look at when it inspects a dental practice?
CQC asks five key questions about every dental practice: is it safe, effective, caring, responsive to people's needs, and well-led. Under CQC's single assessment framework, the evidence for each key question is organised into quality statements, and inspectors look at what staff say, what patients say, and what the practice's records show. Most dental practices are not given a rating like Good or Outstanding. Instead, the inspection report usually says whether the regulations are met, or whether not all regulations are met, for each key question that was looked at.
Why do dental practices fail CQC inspections?
Most dental practices that fail a CQC inspection fail on well-led. In CQC's published data from 1 October 2026, 86 dental practices in England had at least one key question where not all regulations were met. Of those 86 practices, 85 were marked down on well-led and 26 on safe. Well-led is about governance: whether the practice has systems that spot problems and fix them, whether audits are done and acted on, whether staff checks are complete, and whether leaders know what is going on. A practice can give excellent clinical care and still fail on well-led, because the evidence that everything is checked and owned is missing.
Which areas does a dental practice need to keep on top of?
Teething Issues tracks 14 areas of dental compliance for every practice it works with: audits, cleaning, COSHH, CPD, decontamination, fire safety, medical emergencies, risk assessments, staff paperwork, servicing and maintenance, reception, surgery, CQC inspection readiness, and the Registered Manager interview. Staff paperwork alone covers DBS checks, GDC registration, indemnity, immunisation records and training certificates, and each role needs something slightly different. Fire safety is covered by the Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005, and decontamination should follow the Department of Health's HTM 01-05 guidance.
How can a dental practice stay inspection-ready all year?
A dental practice stays inspection-ready all year by checking the real documents regularly rather than waiting for an inspection date. The practices that do best give every gap a named owner and a deadline, chase each one until it is closed, and track renewals such as DBS checks, training, servicing and certificates before they run out. Regular mock inspections show where the practice stands before an inspector does. Teething Issues does this for practices: a former CQC Registered Manager reads the documents line by line, every gap is owned and chased, and the team gets clear jobs instead of a pile of paperwork.
What should a practice do after a 'not all regulations met' report?
A dental practice that receives a 'not all regulations met' report should start with the specific points the report raised, which are most often about well-led and safe. Each point should become a clear action with a named owner, a deadline and evidence that it has been fixed, because CQC will look for proof, not promises. It also helps to look for the system behind each gap, for example why a training renewal was missed, so the same problem doesn't come back at the next inspection. Teething Issues helps practices do exactly this, starting with the areas that matter most for the next inspection.
Sources: CQC directory and latest ratings data published by the Care Quality Commission (1 and 14 October 2026); CQC registration requirements for dental practices in England; Department of Health HTM 01-05; Regulatory Reform (Fire Safety) Order 2005.