NHS Dental Recovery Plan
Under a new plan published this week, it's hoped that people will start to benefit from more NHS dental appointments over the next year.
This week, the NHS and the Government have published a plan to recover NHS dentistry setting out a major new focus on prevention and good oral health in young children, and an expansion of dental workforce.
Our evidence tells us that people on low incomes, children and women, have particularly found it difficult to get an NHS dental appointment.
What's in the plan?
- NHS dentists will be given a ‘new patient’ payment of between £15-£50 (depending on treatment need) to treat around a million new patients who have not seen an NHS dentist in two years or more.
- People will be able to see which practices in their local area are accepting new patients on the NHS website and the NHS App. The government will roll out a marketing campaign encouraging anyone who has not been seen by a dentist for the past two years to access treatment.
- A new ‘Smile For Life’ programme will be rolled out to offer parents and parents-to-be advice for baby gums and milk teeth, with the aim that by the time children go to school, every child will see tooth brushing as a normal part of their day.
- Dental vans will help deliver dental treatment to people in rural and coastal areas.
- A water fluoridation programme will be rolled, which could reduce the number of tooth extractions due to decay in the most deprived areas of the country. Subject to consultation, the programme would enable an additional 1.6 million people to benefit from water fluoridation, first expanding across the North East.
Tell us your experience seeing an NHS dentist
Years into this NHS dental crisis, hundreds of people are still telling us it's impossible to get an NHS dentist appointment. Please tell us if this is the case for you and your loved ones.
Healthwatch England are campaigning for reform. To make an impact, we need your help.
