With record numbers being turned away, Labour has a plan to rescue NHS dentistry

Of the 861 dental surgeries who have provided a recent update in the South East, 87.6% are not currently accepting any new adult 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 one in 10 Brits claiming to have attempted their own dental work.

Vast parts of England are now ‘dental deserts’, where no dentists are available. Rather than working to address the problem, 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.

Peter Lamb, Labour candidate for Crawley, said:

“Dentistry isn’t an optional add-on, it’s an essential public service. Yet, government inaction is leaving NHS dentistry to die.

“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.”