A leading dentist has urged political parties to prioritise NHS dentistry in their upcoming election manifestos.
Eddie Crouch, chair of the British Dental Association (BDA), today called for ‘ambitious plans to reform the dental contract’ to feature in the manifestos of all political parties as we head into an election.
Speaking on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, he added that there is a workforce issue within dentistry, with many job advertisements receiving no applicants.
He added that we would need around 250 more academics if the UK government is to increase the workforce by 40% – a pledge that was made in the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan last summer.
The proposal said NHS England will explore measures with the government – such as a tie-in period – to encourage dentists to spend a minimum proportion of their time delivering NHS care in the years following graduation.
According to reports at the time, the NHS was set to receive £2.4 billion in extra funding to pay for the planned rise.
Lost appointments
This comes as MPs debate whether to extend free NHS dentistry to cancer patients – with experts expressing concern that those already eligible are not receiving care.
Last week, the government considered whether to extend free NHS dentistry provision to those who have been diagnosed with cancer.
Currently, patients are eligible for free NHS dental care if they are pregnant or have given birth in the past 12 months when treatment begins. This is because hormonal changes and morning sickness can worsen oral health.
However, the BDA said that many of these patients are not receiving the free care that they are entitled to.
According to the association, an average of 840,000 claims for free maternity dentistry were made per year between 2015 and 2020. This fell to 245,967 in 2020/21, with the latest figures still much lower at 542,353 in 2022/23. This means more than one million maternity appointments have been lost since COVID-19 lockdown.
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