Minister for Care (): I wish to update the
House on the implementation of the quality and payment reforms to
the NHS dentistry contract. This follows the government's 2025
public consultation on proposals to address some of the pressing
issues that dental teams face and support them to spend more time
on patients with the greatest need. The first set of regulatory
amendments to accompany these reforms came into force on the 1
April 2026. Today, we have laid the second set of regulatory
amendments to the National Health Service (General Dental
Services Contracts) Regulations 2005, the National Health Service
(Personal Dental Services Agreements) Regulations 2005, and the
National Health Service (Dental Charges) Regulations 2005, to
support these reforms. These amendments will come into force on
23 June 2026 and will:
- Create new long-term care pathways for patients with
significant dental decay and/or significant gum disease, with
improved payments to cover the costs and labour involved for
dentists, and more effective, joined up care for patients, with a
single patient charge;
- Introduce a new add-on payment for denture modifications,
relining and repairs, to more fairly remunerate dentists
delivering these treatments to patients;
- Remove existing regulatory barriers to enable an electronic
prescription service in dentistry.
These reforms build on the April regulatory changes to improve
access to urgent NHS dental care and support greater use of
cost-effective, evidence-based prevention for children.
In addition to these regulatory changes, we have introduced a new
funded quality improvement programme and are providing funding
towards annual appraisals for associate dentists, dental
therapists and dental hygienists delivering NHS care.
These reforms are an important step towards fundamental reform,
but not the end point, and we will continue to go further before
the end of this Parliament.
