“The overall amount of dental treatment being delivered by the NHS has thankfully continued to creep back up after the huge hit it took during the Covid pandemic. But the government's ambition that everyone who needs an NHS dentist should get one still remains a pipe dream for many people.
“This data only counts people who got through the door for an NHS dentist appointment, so we can’t see those who gave up looking, went private, or went to A&E because their dental health deteriorated without affordable treatment. What's more, an increase in the number of dentists doesn't necessarily mean more NHS appointments, as the amount of NHS work they do can vary hugely.
“We also know that the NHS contract is not working for dental practices. Our analysis found that one in ten NHS practices have abandoned their NHS general dentistry contract since 2017. Many practices are drifting to the private sector. With this trend impacting some areas of England much more than others, it amounts to the quiet transformation of dentistry into a two-tier service, where access increasingly depends on what people can afford to pay and where they happen to live.”
Notes to editors
The NHS England dental statistics are available here.