If you've spent any time at all in dental forums or WhatsApp groups for overseas-qualified dentists, you'll have seen this question asked roughly once a day: "Should I do the ORE or the LDS?"
It's asked so often partly because there genuinely isn't a single right answer — it depends on your situation — and partly because the advice people receive is often contradictory, outdated, or based on someone's experience from years ago when the landscape looked quite different.
Let's try to give you something more useful than "it depends."
What both ORE and LDS RCS England routes actually are
Both the Overseas Registration Examination (ORE) and the Licence in Dental Surgery (LDS) lead to the same destination: full registration with the General Dental Council, allowing you to practise dentistry independently in the UK.
The ORE is run by the GDC itself. The LDS is run by the Royal College of Surgeons of England (RCS Eng) — which is partly why passing it carries a certain prestige; you become entitled to use the postnominal LDS RCS (Eng).
Beyond that, here's where they genuinely differ.
Frequency and waiting times
The ORE runs more frequently and at higher volume — multiple sittings a year, with hundreds of places per sitting for Part 1. The LDS, by contrast, is typically offered once or twice a year with a smaller number of places, which historically has meant a more competitive booking process but — for some candidates — a shorter overall wait, simply because the ORE waiting list has been so large in recent years (at one point, around 5,000 candidates were on the combined ORE waiting lists).
This is genuinely one of the more dynamic factors right now. With the GDC's ORE overhaul increasing capacity significantly from August 2026 onwards, the calculation that's existed for the past couple of years — "LDS might actually be faster because the ORE queue is so long" — may shift. Worth checking current waiting times for both rather than relying on what a colleague experienced 18 months ago.
Cost
The ORE has historically had the lower overall cost structure, though as we covered in a separate post, the Part 2 fee has just risen substantially (to £6,967 from the 2026/27 contract year). The LDS fee structure is set independently by the RCS Eng and is worth checking directly on their website, as it isn't subject to the same GDC fee announcements.
Format and academic style
Here's something that doesn't get discussed enough: the LDS is generally considered to have a more academically demanding structure, with a three-part format that includes a more detailed clinical reasoning component. Neither exam is "easier" in any meaningful sense — both are rigorous, both are designed to confirm the same standard of clinical competence — but the style of assessment differs, and this might matter more to you than the headline pass rates.
Some considerations that might tip the balance
You're an EEA/EU graduate, or studied in a country with historical links to UK dental education. Some candidates from these backgrounds report the LDS curriculum style feels closer to what they're used to — though this varies hugely by individual programme, so treat this as a prompt to investigate your specific situation, not a rule.
You're time-pressured because of visa or sponsorship deadlines. Whichever route currently has the shorter realistic wait to a sitting becomes the dominant factor — check current waiting times for both rather than assuming.
You want the postnominal for career positioning. If building a private practice profile is part of your long-term plan, LDS RCS (Eng) carries recognition that some patients and employers respond to.
Your existing study materials are aligned to one syllabus. If you've already invested significant time preparing using ORE-aligned resources, that preparation isn't wasted either way — there's substantial overlap in the underlying clinical knowledge both exams test.
ORE vs LDS: the honest bottom line for GDC registration
Neither pathway is a shortcut, and neither is objectively easier. The choice should come down to your personal circumstances: how much time you realistically have, your financial position given the new fee structures, your visa timeline if applicable, and which assessment style plays to your strengths.
If you're still deciding, our suggestion is this: don't choose based on which one a friend says is "easier" — choose based on which one's current waiting times and format work for your situation right now, because both of those things have changed significantly over the past two years and will likely keep changing as the ORE overhaul rolls out through 2026 and 2027.
Whichever route you choose, ORESuccess covers the shared clinical knowledge both ORE and LDS examine — UK guidelines, the Safe Practitioner Framework, and OSCE-style practice questions, and 35 hours of GDC-compliant verifiable CPD. Built for both pathways. Start your 7-day free trial.
Always confirm current fees, formats, and waiting times directly with the GDC and the Royal College of Surgeons of England before making your decision, as both are subject to change.