Consent to Dental Treatment: Your Rights and What Your Dentist Must Tell You (2026)

Last updated: September 2026. Sources: NHS.uk, the General Dental Council, the NHS Business Services Authority, NHS England, the UK Supreme Court (via The National Archives) and legislation.gov.uk. All legal points and NHS charges verified on 25 September 2026.

TL;DR Before any dental treatment you must give valid consent, which means the decision is voluntary, informed and made by someone with capacity. Your dentist must explain the treatment, its risks, the reasonable alternatives and the cost, and you can refuse or stop at any time. Consent is an ongoing conversation, not just a signature.

Sitting in the dental chair, it is easy to feel that decisions are being made for you rather than with you. You may be handed a form to sign, told what needs doing, and given a price, all in a few minutes. But the law and the dental regulator are clear that treatment is your decision, not your dentist's, and that you are entitled to a proper explanation before you agree to anything.

This guide explains what "consent" to dental treatment actually means in the UK, exactly what your dentist must tell you before you agree, your right to say no or to change your mind, how consent works when it comes to costs, and what happens when you cannot make the decision yourself or the patient is a child. It also covers what you can do if you feel you were treated without proper consent. Everything below is drawn from NHS guidance, the General Dental Council's standards and UK case law, with each point referenced at the end.

What "valid consent" actually means

In UK healthcare, consent is not a single yes or a signature on a form. It is a legal requirement that has to meet three conditions. The NHS sets them out plainly: for consent to be valid it must be voluntary, informed, and given by a person with the capacity to make the decision. [1]

• Voluntary means, in the NHS's words, that "the decision to either consent or not to consent to treatment must be made by the person themselves and must not be influenced by pressure from medical staff, friends or family". [1] You should never feel pushed into agreeing.
• Informed means "the person must be given all of the information about what the treatment involves, including the benefits and risks, whether there are reasonable alternative treatments, and what will happen if treatment does not go ahead". [1]
• Capacity means "the person must be capable of giving their consent, which means they understand the information given to them and can use it to make an informed decision". [1]

The General Dental Council (GDC), the regulator every UK dentist must be registered with, uses the term valid consent deliberately rather than "informed consent", to make the point that simply handing over information is not enough. All three elements have to be present. Its Standards for the Dental Team devote an entire principle, Principle 3, to obtaining valid consent before treatment begins. [2]

What your dentist must tell you before you agree

This is the heart of informed consent, and it is where UK law has moved firmly in the patient's favour over the last decade.

The landmark case is Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board, decided by the UK Supreme Court on 11 March 2015. Before Montgomery, the test for what a clinician had to disclose was based on what a responsible body of professionals would have told you. Montgomery changed that to a patient-centred test. The Court held that a clinician must take reasonable care to ensure the patient is aware of any material risks involved in the proposed treatment, and of any reasonable alternatives. [3]

Crucially, the Court defined what counts as a "material" risk:

A risk is material if a reasonable person in the patient's position would be likely to attach significance to it, or if the doctor is or should reasonably be aware that the particular patient would be likely to attach significance to it.

In plain terms, materiality is not just a numbers game. A small statistical risk can still be material if the consequence is serious, or if it matters to you specifically given your job, hobbies or circumstances. The duty is to have a genuine two-way conversation, not to read out a standard list. [3]

Applied to dentistry, that means before you agree to treatment your dentist should explain:

• what the treatment involves and why it is being recommended,
• the benefits you can reasonably expect,
• the material risks, including anything that would matter to you in particular,
• the reasonable alternatives, including the option of doing nothing and what would happen then, and
• the cost, and whether the treatment is available on the NHS, privately, or both.

The GDC's standards reinforce this. Principle 3 requires dentists to "obtain valid consent before starting treatment, explaining all the relevant options and the possible costs", to give patients enough information and "a reasonable amount of time to consider that information", and to check and record that the patient has understood. [2]

Consent is a process, not a one-off signature

A common misunderstanding is that once you have signed a form, consent is settled. It is not. The GDC could not be clearer on this point, stating in its standards that "giving and obtaining consent is a process, not a one-off event". [2]

That has two practical consequences for you as a patient.

First, your consent has to remain valid at each stage of a course of treatment. If a plan changes partway through, for example a filling turns out to need root canal work, your dentist should pause and get your agreement to the new plan and its cost, not simply carry on. [2]

Second, and just as importantly, you can change your mind. The GDC standards state that "patients can refuse treatment, or ask for it to be stopped after it has started". [2] The NHS says the same: if you change your mind at any point before a procedure, "you're entitled to withdraw your previous consent". [1] You do not have to justify the decision, and a good dentist will respect it and record it.

Written consent, verbal consent, and when a signature is required

Consent does not always have to be written down to be valid. The NHS recognises three ways it can be given: [1]

• verbally, for example agreeing to have an X-ray,
• in writing, for example signing a form before a procedure, and
• non-verbally or by implication, for example opening your mouth for an examination, which is valid only where it is genuinely clear you understand what is about to happen and why.

For most routine dentistry, verbal or implied consent after a proper discussion is enough. There are, however, situations where the GDC requires written consent. Its standards specify that written consent should be obtained for treatment carried out under conscious sedation or general anaesthetic. [2] So if you are having, say, wisdom teeth removed under sedation, expect to sign a consent form as well as have the conversation. Our guide to dental sedation and its costs explains what those procedures involve.

Even where a signature is taken, remember the point above: the form records a decision, it does not replace the conversation, and it does not lock you in.

Consenting to the cost: NHS bands, treatment plans and private estimates

For dental treatment, money is part of consent. You cannot give informed consent to a treatment if you do not know what it will cost, which is why the GDC ties cost transparency directly into its consent standard. [2]

On the NHS in England, treatment is grouped into three price bands. As of 1 April 2026 the charges are: [4]

For any NHS course of treatment in Band 2 or Band 3, your practice must give you a treatment plan on the standard form (the FP17DC), which sets out the proposed work and the cost. You sign it, and that signed plan is the formal record of your consent to the treatment and its charge. A plan is only required for Band 1 work if it includes a private element or if you ask for one. [5]

If you are paying privately, the GDC still requires the dentist to explain the options and the possible costs before starting, and good practice is to give you a written estimate after your examination so you can see what you are agreeing to. [2] A dentist who has not given you a clear, written cost is on weak ground, and you are within your rights to ask for one before you say yes. It is worth understanding how NHS and private dental costs compare and what private treatment typically costs so you can weigh up any recommendation.

Where a plan mixes NHS and private treatment, the practice must be clear about which elements are which, and must not mislead you about what is available to you on the NHS. Any single item of treatment is either an NHS item or a private one; a dentist should not charge you a private top-up fee on top of the NHS band charge for the same piece of work. If a private option is being recommended over an NHS one, you are entitled to ask why, and to consider the NHS alternative.

Charges and exemptions are different in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, each of which runs its own NHS dental charging system with a cap on the amount you pay per course of treatment, so do not assume the England bands apply everywhere. Our guide to NHS dental charges across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland covers the differences.

When treatment is free, consent to cost still matters

Many people pay nothing for NHS dental care, but the consent conversation is the same. You should still be told what is proposed and why. NHS dental treatment in England is free if you: [6]

• are under 18, or under 19 and in full-time education,
• are pregnant or have had a baby in the last 12 months (you will need a maternity exemption certificate or the baby's birth certificate),
• are receiving qualifying benefits, such as Income Support, income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, or Universal Credit where your earnings in the relevant period were below the threshold, or
• hold a valid HC2 certificate through the NHS Low Income Scheme.

If you think a charge is wrong, or you are being asked to pay for something you believe should be free or provided on the NHS, that is a legitimate thing to question before you consent. Our guide to who qualifies for free NHS dental treatment sets out the full list.

What if you cannot make the decision yourself?

Consent depends on capacity, and the law starts from a generous assumption. As the NHS puts it, "all adults are presumed to have sufficient capacity to decide on their own medical treatment, unless there's significant evidence to suggest otherwise". [7]

Where capacity is genuinely in doubt, in England and Wales the Mental Capacity Act 2005 sets a two-part test. First, does the person have an impairment of, or a disturbance in the functioning of, their mind or brain? Second, does that impairment mean they cannot make this particular decision at this particular time, because they cannot understand the relevant information, retain it long enough to decide, weigh it up, or communicate their decision? [7]

Capacity is decision-specific and can change over time, so someone may be able to consent to a simple filling but need support with a complex treatment decision, and a person's capacity may improve or fluctuate. Where an adult genuinely lacks capacity for a decision, treatment must be provided in their best interests, taking account of their past wishes and involving those close to them. [7]

The framework differs across the UK. Scotland uses the Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 rather than the Mental Capacity Act, and Northern Ireland has its own Mental Capacity Act (Northern Ireland) 2016. The underlying principle, that adults are presumed to have capacity and that decisions for those who lack it must be made in their interests, is broadly shared across all three. [7] [8]

Consent and children

For children and young people, the rules step through three stages.

Aged 16 or 17. Young people of 16 or 17 are, in the NHS's words, "presumed to have sufficient capacity to decide on their own medical treatment, unless there's significant evidence to suggest otherwise", much as adults are. This right is long established in law. [9]

Under 16. A child under 16 can consent to their own treatment if they have enough understanding and intelligence to fully appreciate what is involved. This is known as being Gillick competent, after the case that established it. There is no fixed age or checklist; the dentist assesses whether this particular child understands this particular decision. [9]

Not yet able to decide. Where a child is not able to consent for themselves, someone with parental responsibility can consent on their behalf. Helpfully, the NHS confirms that only one person with parental responsibility needs to give consent for treatment to go ahead. [9]

If a Gillick-competent young person agrees to treatment, that consent is valid even if a parent disagrees, and in an emergency where waiting would risk harm, necessary treatment can proceed. Taking children to the dentist early helps them get used to it; our guide to your child's first dental visit covers what to expect.

Higher-risk treatments deserve a fuller conversation

The more significant the treatment, the more thorough the consent discussion should be. For procedures such as extractions, dental implants or anything under sedation, the Montgomery duty to disclose material risks really bites, because the things that can go wrong matter more.

Your dentist should talk you through the specific risks relevant to that procedure, which for surgical dental work can include things like bleeding, infection, or temporary or, rarely, lasting altered sensation in the lip, tongue or gum where a nerve runs close to the treatment site, as well as the risks associated with any sedation used. This is not meant to frighten you; it is what allows you to make a genuine choice, including choosing a different option or declining. If a treatment is being recommended and you do not feel the risks and alternatives have been explained, it is entirely reasonable to ask for more detail, to take time to think, or to seek a second opinion before agreeing.

Feeling anxious can make these conversations harder, and anxiety is never a reason to be rushed. Our guide to overcoming dental anxiety has practical strategies, and a good practice will give you the time you need.

What to do if you were treated without proper consent

If you believe treatment went ahead without your valid consent, for example work was done that you did not agree to, or a material risk or a cost was never explained, you have a clear route to raise it.

Start with the practice. Every NHS and private dental practice must have a complaints procedure. Raising your concern directly, in writing if you prefer, is the quickest route and often resolves matters. Our step-by-step guide on how to complain about a dentist walks through this.

For NHS treatment, if the practice does not resolve it, you can escalate through the NHS complaints process. In England this runs via the body that commissions the service, and complaints should generally be raised within 12 months. [10]

For private treatment, the Dental Complaints Service offers a free, impartial route across the whole UK and can help broker an outcome such as a refund or remedial treatment, though it cannot compel a dentist. [11]

For concerns about a dentist's conduct or safety, including serious or repeated consent failures, you can raise a fitness-to-practise concern with the GDC. It is important to understand what the GDC does and does not do. In its own words, "we cannot resolve complaints or help with refunds". The GDC regulates the professional; it is not the route to get your money back. For that, use the complaints routes above, or take independent legal advice where a negligence claim may apply. [11]

The GDC does treat consent as a serious and recurring issue: its own analysis of fitness-to-practise concerns has highlighted consent, including poor explanation of treatment plans, costs and risks, as a distinct theme it tracks and reports on. [12] In short, your right to be properly informed is not a nicety; it is something the regulator actively monitors.

Frequently asked questions

What must a dentist tell me before treatment? Your dentist must explain what the treatment involves, its benefits, the material risks, the reasonable alternatives including doing nothing, and the cost. Under the Montgomery ruling, a risk is material if a reasonable patient in your position, or you specifically, would attach significance to it. This should be a two-way conversation, not a recited list. [1] [3]

Can a dentist treat me without my consent? No. Valid consent, meaning a voluntary and informed decision by someone with capacity, is required before treatment. The main exceptions are emergencies where a patient cannot consent and delay would cause harm, and situations where an adult lacks capacity and treatment is given in their best interests under the relevant capacity law. [1] [7]

Do I have to sign a consent form? Not always. Consent can be verbal or implied after a proper discussion, and is valid without a signature for most routine dentistry. Written consent is specifically required for treatment under conscious sedation or general anaesthetic. A signed form records your decision but does not replace the conversation or prevent you changing your mind. [1] [2]

Can I change my mind after agreeing to treatment? Yes. Both the NHS and the GDC confirm you can refuse treatment or ask for it to be stopped at any time, including after it has started. You are entitled to withdraw consent you gave earlier, and you do not have to justify the decision. Your dentist should respect and record it. [1] [2]

Does my dentist have to tell me the cost before treatment? Yes. Cost is part of informed consent. On the NHS, you must be given a treatment plan for Band 2 and Band 3 courses showing the work and the charge. Privately, the GDC requires the options and possible costs to be explained beforehand, and you should be given a written estimate. [2] [5]

Who can consent for a child at the dentist? A young person of 16 or 17 is presumed able to consent for themselves, and a child under 16 can consent if they are Gillick competent, meaning they fully understand the decision. Otherwise, one person with parental responsibility can consent on the child's behalf. [9]

What can I do if I was treated without proper consent? Raise it with the practice first, as every dental practice must have a complaints procedure. For NHS care you can escalate through the NHS complaints process, and for private care the UK-wide Dental Complaints Service can help. Serious conduct concerns can go to the GDC, though it cannot issue refunds. [10] [11]

Finding a dentist who explains things properly

A dentist you can trust is one who takes the time to explain what they recommend, sets out the risks, the alternatives and the cost in plain terms, and never makes you feel rushed into agreeing. That is not just good manners; it is what the law and the GDC require. If you are looking for a practice near you, you can search for a dentist in your area on Dentists Closeby and compare the practices covering your postcode. Our guides to finding a good dentist in the UK and how to register with a dentist cover what else to look for.

Sources

1. Consent to treatment -- NHS.uk, last reviewed 8 December 2022, accessed 2026-09-25
2. Standards for the Dental Team: Principle 3, Obtain valid consent -- General Dental Council, accessed 2026-09-25
3. Montgomery v Lanarkshire Health Board (Scotland) [2015] UKSC 11, press summary -- UK Supreme Court via The National Archives, judgment 11 March 2015, accessed 2026-09-25
4. What are the NHS dental charges? -- NHS Business Services Authority Knowledge Base, charges effective 1 April 2026, accessed 2026-09-25
5. FP17DC treatment plan forms -- NHS Business Services Authority Knowledge Base, accessed 2026-09-25
6. Who can get free NHS dental treatment in England -- NHS.uk, last reviewed 11 February 2025, accessed 2026-09-25
7. Consent to treatment: Assessing capacity -- NHS.uk, last reviewed 8 December 2022, accessed 2026-09-25
8. Adults with Incapacity (Scotland) Act 2000 -- legislation.gov.uk, accessed 2026-09-25
9. Consent to treatment: Children and young people -- NHS.uk, last reviewed 8 December 2022, accessed 2026-09-25
10. Feedback and complaints about NHS services -- NHS England, accessed 2026-09-25
11. Raising concerns: how to get a refund or make a complaint -- General Dental Council and Dental Complaints Service, accessed 2026-09-25
12. Insights from GDC fitness to practise concerns: spotlight on consent (Q4 2019) -- General Dental Council, published 21 October 2020, accessed 2026-09-25