NHS Orthodontic Practice Websites: Are GDC’s Guidelines on Ethical Advertising being met?

Aims To evaluate information on websites of solely orthodontic practices offering NHS treatment in Scotland against GDC’s Guidance on Advertising. Methods A systematic Google search was conducted to find all solely orthodontic practices offering NHS treatment in Scotland with websites. Websites were assessed for adherence to nine prerequisites of the GDC guidance. Results Of twenty-six practices assessed, only 8% of practices showed full compliance. Parameters with least adherence were provision of link to GDC website, a complaints policy and the date of last website update. Conclusions Adherence of orthodontic practice websites offering NHS treatment to GDC’s Guidance on Advertising was suboptimal.