Health Minister has provided details of a
£7million investment in General Dental Services for 2025/26.
He has also announced the expansion of the Happy Smiles
programme.
The investment provides funding for:
- Continuation of the Enhanced Child Examination Scheme which
provides children aged 0-10 who have not been registered with a
dentist with an examination, individualised oral health advice
and age-specific fluoride application to teeth to assist with
preventing dental decay. From its reintroduction in June 2024 to
April 2025, over 37,000 newly registered children have been seen
under the scheme;
- The continuation of 30% enhancement to fees paid to dentists
for Health Service fillings, extractions and root canal treatment
for 2025/26, to support public access to priority treatments;
- The allocation of £1.6m to provide additional support to
dental practitioners who continue to provide Health Service
dental care for their patients.
The Dental Access Scheme will also continue to provide access for
unregistered patients with an urgent or pressing oral health
need. Since it commenced on 1st August last year, it has allowed
nearly 18,400 high-need patients to receive treatment. The scheme
is funded until 2027.
Details of the investment were provided during an Assembly debate
on access to dental care.
In addition to this investment directly into General Dental
Services, funding is being provided to expand the Happy
Smiles programme.
Happy Smiles was originally launched in 2016 with the aim of
improving the oral health of nursery school children in the 20%
most deprived areas in Northern Ireland. The programme is being
expanded to include Primary 1, 2 and 3 schoolchildren in the 20%
most deprived wards.
The Health Minister stated: “Alongside these specific
interventions, I am clear that the General Dental Services, as
with other services, require sustained effort to ensure
sustainability over the longer term.
“My Department is committed to advancing work on the
long-term future of dental services, to ensure patients can
continue to access care when they need it, whilst taking measures
to ensure the service is sustainable.
“I have approved the commissioning of a General Dental
Services cost of service review to be completed in 2025/26. This
will in turn provide a robust evidence base to inform how the
service will develop over the coming years.”
