Labour proposes Dentistry Rescue Plan as 8 in 10 dentists shut door on new patients

Labour will introduce a dentistry rescue plan so patients can get an NHS dentist again, as new analysis reveals the overwhelming majority of practices have shut their doors to new patients. 

Of the 4,969 dental surgeries who have provided a recent update in England, 4,112 (82%) are not currently accepting any new adult patients, and more than 2-in-3 (3,531) are not currently accepting any new children as patients. 

The collapse of NHS dentistry has left millions of patients unable to get an appointment when they need one. Analysis of patient survey data suggests that last year, 4.75 million people were either told there were no appointments available, or the practice wasn’t taking on new patients, when they last tried to book an appointment.

Healthwatch England has reported horror stories of people forced to pull their own teeth out, with 1 in 10 Brits claiming to have attempted their own dental work.

Vast parts of England are now ‘dental deserts’, where no dentists are available. In the South West, 99% of dentists have shut their doors to new adult patients, with just 4 practices welcoming new patients across the entire region. The government has launched a pilot in Cornwall where NHS dentistry will only be offered to children and the most vulnerable.

Labour is promising to take immediate action to provide care for those in most urgent need, and long-term reform to restore NHS dentistry to all who need it. The party’s plans include:

• Funding NHS dental practices to provide 700,000 more urgent appointments, for patients in need of things like fillings and root canal.
• Incentives for new dentists to work in areas with the greatest need, to tackle the emergence of ‘dental deserts’ where no NHS dentists are taking on new patients.
• Supervised toothbrushing in schools for 3-5 year olds, targeted at the areas with highest childhood tooth decay
• Reform the dental contract to rebuild the service in the long-run, so NHS dentistry is there for all who need it

The plans will cost £111 million a year in total and be funded by abolishing the non-dom tax status, which allows people who live and work in Britain to pay their taxes overseas.

Wes Streeting MP, Shadow Health and Social Care Secretary, said: 

"The Conservatives have left NHS dentistry to wither on the vine, and now the service is barely worthy of the name. Patients are told to go without or do it themselves, with DIY dentistry now shockingly common in Tory Britain.

“The slow death of dentistry is the Ghost of Christmas Future for the NHS, if the Conservatives are given a fifth term: those who can afford it going private and those who can't left with a poor service for poor people. 

“Labour has a fully-costed plan to rescue NHS dentistry by gripping the immediate crisis and reforming the service in the long-term. We will provide 700,000 urgent appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas most in need, paid for by abolishing the non-dom tax status.”

Ends

Notes

Data collated via NHS dental practice updates. 

• "Tooth decay continuing to be the most common reason for hospital admission..." OHID - Hospital Tooth Extractions in 0 - 19 year olds 2022
• "Just 94 dental practises were open across the whole region, around one open practice to every 99,000 people." South East population = 9,294,023/94 = 98,873. 
• 1 in 10 people have attempted their own dental work, and Healthwatch England report patients pulling their own teeth out with pliers
• https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm5803/cmselect/cmhealth/964/summary.html