International Dental Organisation · UK
You trained as a dentist. Now let’s get you practising in the UK.
ORE or LDS? Performers List? Indemnity, housing, a bank account before you’ve even started. The move is more than an exam, and IDO walks you through all of it in plain English, with every regulatory step tied back to the GDC and RCSEng.
Written for overseas-qualified dentists, not a regulator’s manual. Practical, honest and human.
Start here
Which registration route is yours?
The ORE routeGDC examination, the path for most overseas dentists The LDS routeVia the Royal College of Surgeons of England I’m not sure yetAnswer a few questions and we’ll point the wayThe path, start to finish
Four stages, from overseas-qualified to settled
You’re not just changing jobs. You’re building a career and a life here. This is the whole journey, and where IDO helps at each step.
Register
Prove your knowledge and gain full GDC registration.
Work
Find a role, get compliant, and start practising.
Understand
Make sense of the NHS, pay and how it all fits.
Settle & belong
Build a home and a life you’re happy in.
Why IDO is different
“You’re not simply moving jobs. You’re moving homes, families and identities.”
We treat your move as a whole-person transition
Most guidance stops at the exam. Yet the hardest parts are often the quiet ones: reading a new culture, being understood, and finding where you belong in a UK practice. Our pages on communication, inclusion and confidence exist because clinical skill was never the thing you were missing.
Communication styleInclusion & respectHandling bias professionallyMentoring & peer supportThe full guide
Thirteen plain-English chapters
Grouped the way you’ll actually need them: the profession, the practicalities, and the personal side of settling in.
The profession
ORE / LDS registrationRoutes, documents, timelines, mistakes to avoid Course providersCompare ORE & LDS preparation fairly Working in the UKJobs, contracts, the Performers List Indemnity & insuranceThe legal cover you need before day one Temporary registrationWhat it allows, and what it doesn’t
A new home, not just a new job
Build your life in the UK with confidence
From your first bank account to the neighbourhood you call home, we help you settle in, not just sign in.
Make it real
Your first 90 days, planned
Relocation turns into a checklist you can actually follow, downloadable and ready to print.
First 30 days
- Bank account & mobile
- Accommodation sorted
- Register with a GP
- MyGDC set up
- Learn your local area
By day 60
- Interviews & contracts
- Indemnity in place
- Transport planned
- First-year budget
By day 90
- Start work
- Compliance follow-up
- A support network
- CPD planning
Join IDO
Do this with people who’ve done it before
Membership connects you to mentors, webinars and events, and a network of dentists who arrived exactly where you are now, and made it work.