The price of fuel, food and life's other basic necessities may be rising, but at least one thing will stay the same in 2009 - the cost of renewing your registration with the General Dental Council.

The Council agreed at its meeting in Belfast this month (3 and 4 September) not to increase its registration fees for 2009.

"We keep being reminded that we are in the grip of a credit crunch and life is getting tougher for people. Costs may be increasing elsewhere, but I'm pleased to say that the Council has - after a period of time - built up its reserves and will manage the budget effectively for the coming year without increasing fee levels," GDC President Hew Mathewson says.

The freeze on fees means the cost of annual registration renewal for dentists will remain at ??438 and ??96 for dental care professionals. The cost of being on one of the GDC's specialist lists stays at ??52.

The Council also agreed to change the registration renewal date for four groups of dental care professionals - dental hygienists, dental therapists, clinical dental technicians and orthodontic therapists - to July each year rather than December, to bring them into line with dental nurses and technicians.

Dental hygienists, dental therapists, clinical dental technicians and orthodontic therapists will therefore be required to pay seven months registration of ??56 in December 2008 to take them through to the end of July next year, when they will then pay a full year's registration through to the end of July 2010. This will synchronise all DCPs onto the same annual renewal cycle.

The annual fees will be payable as follows:

Dentist

Annual retention fee (ARF) - ??438 due in December 2008
Application fee - ??438 if registering in January. From February, ??37 per month until December 2009 when ARF is due
Specialists

Annual retention fee (ARF) - ??52 due in December 2008
Application fee - ??250

Dental nurses and dental technicians

Annual retention fee (ARF) - Dental nurses and dental technicians have paid for their first year of registration already. Their first ARF of ??96 will be due in July 2009.
Application fee - ??8 per month until July 2009 when ARF is due

Dental hygienists, dental therapists, clinical dental technicians and orthodontic therapists

Annual retention fee (ARF) - ??56 due in December 2008 for the seven months ending July 2009, to synchronise all DCPs onto same cycle. ARF of ??96 will then be due in July 2009.
Application fee - ??8 per month until July 2009 when ARF is due

General Dental Council