The Ultimate Guide to UK Dental Charting
24 Sept 2025
The Ultimate Guide to UK Dental Charting
Written by Dr. Stephen Nkansah
We’ve all been there. It’s the end of a long clinic day, the last patient has left, and you’re faced with the essential, yet often arduous, task of completing your clinical records. Accurate dental charting isn’t just clerical busywork; it’s the bedrock of patient care and your professional protection.
However, traditional charting can be a major source of friction in a busy practice. Whether you're using manual techniques or clicking through clunky software, the process is time-consuming. Errors are surprisingly common and can carry significant clinical and medico-legal risks.
At Dentistry Dashboard, we understand these pressures intimately. This was a challenge our founder, Dr. Stevie, faced daily in his own practice—and it’s what led him to create a solution.
This guide is designed to be the definitive resource for UK dental professionals—dentists, students, therapists, hygienists, and dental nurses. We’ll break down the systems, symbols, and strategies for mastering UK dental charting to ensure accuracy, compliance, and efficiency in your practice.
What Exactly is Dental Charting?
Dental charting is the standardized process of recording the health status of a patient's teeth and periodontal tissues. It’s a graphical and textual map of the mouth, forming a critical part of the patient's permanent clinical record.
A comprehensive tooth chart goes beyond just noting cavities. It includes:
Existing restorations and their materials
Caries, tooth wear, and defects
Missing teeth
Tooth mobility and migration
Periodontal health (BPE and 6PPC)
Occlusal relationships
For those approaching dental charting for beginners, it’s crucial to understand this is not merely administrative work. It is both a clinical necessity and a legal document.
Why is Accurate Dental Charting Critical in the UK?
The importance of meticulous record-keeping cannot be overstated. The UK’s General Dental Council (GDC) mandates that dentists “make and keep contemporaneous, complete and accurate patient records.”
Read the full GDC guidance.
Accurate charting serves three primary functions:
Clinical Continuity of Care – Ensures a seamless handover between clinicians, preventing missed diagnoses and treatment errors.
Medico-Legal Necessity – In the event of a patient complaint, your clinical records are your first and best line of defence. The well-worn maxim holds true: “If it isn’t written down, it didn’t happen.”
Compliance and Audits – Regulatory bodies like the GDC and CQC place heavy emphasis on the quality of clinical records during practice audits.
The Fundamentals: UK Tooth Notation Systems
To communicate effectively, we need a standardized way to identify specific teeth. In the UK, this primarily relies on Palmer Notation.
Palmer Notation Charting (The UK Standard)
This system divides the mouth into four quadrants (UR, UL, LL, LR) and numbers permanent teeth 1–8 from the midline. It is the system most commonly taught and used in UK general practice.
The FDI Notation System
The FDI two-digit system is used internationally and by most modern practice management software. The first digit is the quadrant (1–4) and the second is the tooth (1–8).
Example: UR6 in Palmer is 16 in FDI.
The Notation Challenge
As Dr. Stevie found in his practice, the mental load of constantly translating clinical findings into precise notation is taxing. That’s why we designed Dentistry Dashboard Notes to understand dental context. You simply say “Upper Right Six”, and the system knows exactly how to notate it according to your preference (Palmer or FDI).
Essential Dental Charting Symbols and Abbreviations
Beyond tooth identification, dentists use a vast array of symbols and abbreviations to describe conditions and treatments.
Caries: Often marked in red, noted by surface (O, M, D, B, L/P)
Restorations: Noted by material (Amalgam, Composite, etc.) and surfaces (e.g., MOD)
Missing Teeth: Marked with a horizontal line or "X"
RCT: Root Canal Treatment
#: Fracture
TTP: Tender To Percussion
With Dentistry Dashboard Notes, you can describe the condition naturally—e.g., “Large MOD composite on the LL7 with distal marginal breakdown”—and our AI structures it accurately using standardized terminology.
Mastering Periodontal Charting
Periodontal health recording is a mandatory component of the dental exam, guided by the British Society of Periodontology (BSP).
See BSP’s Good Practitioner’s Guide.
BPE Charting (The Essential Screening)
The Basic Periodontal Examination (BPE) is the standard screening tool. The mouth is divided into six sextants, and the highest code (0–4, with * for furcation) is recorded.
The Six-Point Pocket Chart (6PPC)
When a BPE score of 3 or 4 is recorded, a more detailed 6PPC is required, measuring six sites per tooth. Recording a full 6PPC is notoriously time-consuming and prone to transcription errors.
This is where AI transforms the workflow. With our software, you simply vocalize the readings as you go—“LL6, buccal 4, 3, 5, bleeding”—and the AI captures and structures the data instantly.
The Future of Charting: AI and Automation
Artificial Intelligence is not about replacing clinical judgment; it’s about removing the administrative burden so you can focus on your patient.
How Dentistry Dashboard Notes Changes the Game
Our system uses specialized dental AI to transcribe your appointment conversation and intelligently structure it into coherent, compliant clinical notes.
Natural Language Input: Speak naturally about your findings. No rigid commands.
Automatic Notation: The AI understands and applies Palmer or FDI notation correctly.
Intelligent Filtering: Filters out irrelevant small talk, capturing only clinical data.
Consistency and Compliance: Notes follow standardized templates, ensuring every required detail is captured.
This technology allows clinicians to chart faster, more accurately, and with significantly less stress.
Conclusion: Charting Smarter, Not Harder
Mastering dental charting is a fundamental skill. While traditional methods have served us well, they are inefficient. By embracing AI, we can ensure the highest standards of record-keeping while reducing burnout and freeing up time for what matters most—our patients.
Ready to Revolutionize Your Clinical Workflow?
Spend less time typing and more time treating.
Dentistry Dashboard Notes is helping UK dentists save hours every week, improve the quality of their records, and reduce administrative stress.
👉 Learn more and start your 21-day free trial today.
About the Author
Dr. Stephen Nkansah
Dentist & Founder of Dentistry Dashboard
Dr. Stephen (Stevie) Nkansah is a practicing dentist in the UK with a passion for leveraging technology to improve dental practice operations. Frustrated by the inefficiencies of traditional administrative tasks he experienced firsthand, he founded Dentistry Dashboard to provide a comprehensive, AI-powered platform designed specifically for the needs of the modern dental team.
