GDC social media guidelines, applied to practice accounts and paid social
Last reviewed against the regulators’ own text, linked in the sources below.
This is general information, not legal advice.
The GDC's social media guidelines say the same professional standards apply online as face to face, and three duties do most of the work: protect patient information, keep appropriate boundaries with patients, and follow your employer's social media policy.1 The guidance covers personal and practice accounts. For a practice, it sits alongside the GDC's advertising guidance, which governs anything promotional, including paid social.
The other rulebooks are on the hub, Dental advertising rules in the UK: every rulebook in one place. This is general information, not legal advice.
What the guidance covers
The GDC's guidance on using social media has been effective since 27 June 2016.1 It defines social media widely, naming "X, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, GDPUK, Instagram and Pinterest" and closed professional groups.1 It applies to every registrant: dentists, hygienists, therapists, nurses, technicians and clinical dental technicians.
| Source | Applies to | What it adds on social |
|---|---|---|
| Guidance on using social media1 | All posts, personal and professional | Confidentiality, boundaries, conduct, privacy |
| Standard 4.2.31 | Posts about patients | No information or comments about patients |
| Standard 6.1.21 | Interaction with colleagues | No bullying or harassment, including online |
| Standard 1.3.32 | Any promotional material | Accurate, not misleading, compliant with the advertising guidance |
| Guidance on advertising3 | Ads and promotional posts | Covered on its own page, linked below |
A registrant is anyone on the GDC register. The guidance follows the person, not the account: it applies "even if you do not identify yourself as a dental professional".1
Organic posts
Organic posts are the unpaid posts on the practice's own pages and profiles. The GDC acknowledges social media can be "an effective means of advertising products and services".1 The same content then sits under both the social media guidance and standard 1.3.3.2
- No comments about identifiable patients, and no replies to reviews that confirm someone is a patient.
- Think carefully before connecting with patients from personal accounts; the GDC says to "think carefully before accepting friend requests from patients".1
- Check photos for location data, which the GDC notes "may be embedded within photographs".1
- No criticism of colleagues or other practices. The GDC says that sharing someone else's offensive content can still make you responsible.1
- Treat deleted posts as permanent; the GDC tells registrants to presume content "will be there permanently".1
Paid social
Paid social is any post the practice pays to promote on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or elsewhere. Paid posts are advertising, so the GDC's advertising guidance applies in full. The one social-specific point it makes is that registrants promoting treatment on social platforms must make clear that it "may not be appropriate for every patient" and depends on a satisfactory assessment.3 The rest of the advertising guidance, titles and claims included, is on the page explaining GDC advertising guidance.
Two layers sit on top of the GDC: the ASA's CAP Code and the platform's own ad policies. On Meta, those policies reject copy that implies the viewer has a health condition. If you're running Meta ads for a practice, that is where the three sets of rules meet.
Patient content
Patient photos, videos and stories carry the highest risk. The GDC's rule is that you must not publish information that could identify patients "without their explicit consent".1 It also says what consent must cover: how the information will be used, "for what purpose and where it will be available".1
| Content | What the practice needs |
|---|---|
| Smile photo or video of a patient | Explicit consent naming the platforms and the purpose1 |
| Before-and-after images in an ad | Consent, plus the ASA's testimonial requirements: evidence the images are genuine and the patient's contact details4 |
| Radiographs or clinical photos | Consider who can see them, even in professional groups1 |
| "Anonymised" case | Check that several details together do not identify the patient1 |
| Patient review reshared | Consent to reshare, and nothing added that confirms treatment details |
Consent given for the practice website doesn't automatically cover an Instagram ad. I would keep a consent form that lists each channel, and a record of which posts use which patient's images.
If you also pay to promote posts, the platform's own rules sit on top, covered in running Meta ads for a practice. For a free first read of your public social accounts and ads, email [email protected].
Sources
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General Dental Council, "Guidance on using social media", effective from 27 June 2016 (quotes standards 4.2.3 and 6.1.2 of the Standards for the Dental Team). https://www.gdc-uk.org/docs/default-source/guidance-documents/guidance-on-using-social-media (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17
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General Dental Council, Standards for the Dental Team, standard 1.3.3. https://standards.gdc-uk.org/pages/principle1/principle1.aspx (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩ ↩2
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General Dental Council, "Guidance on advertising", effective from 30 September 2013. https://www.gdc-uk.org/standards-guidance/standards-and-guidance/gdc-guidance-for-dental-professionals/guidance-on-advertising (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩ ↩2
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Advertising Standards Authority, "This is not a drill: dental ads wisdom", 9 May 2024. https://www.asa.org.uk/news/this-is-not-a-drill-dental-ads-wisdom.html (accessed 1 October 2026). ↩