As set out in the 10-year health plan, the Government are launching a public consultation on a package of reforms to improve the current NHS dental contract, representing the next step towards delivering a dentistry service fit for the future.
Satisfaction with NHS dentistry has fallen to a record low, from 85% in 2019 to 69% in 2024 and the British Dental Association estimates that 13 million adults—over 1 in 4—are struggling to find NHS care. Poor oral health can have a devastating impact on individuals, yet is largely preventable. We inherited a broken NHS dental system, and we are committed to fixing it, so we can deliver more care to those who need it.
Our plan to stabilise NHS dentistry is already under way. From April 2025, integrated care boards started making available the 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments that we promised in our manifesto. As set out in the 10-year health plan, training a dentist costs the taxpayer up to £200,000 and we believe it is fair to expect graduate dentists to invest their skills and expertise in the NHS in return. Having consulted on the principle, we will now make it a requirement for all newly qualified dentists to practice in the NHS for a minimum period. We intend this minimum period to be at least three years. That will mean more NHS dentists, more NHS appointments and better oral health.
We are today launching a public consultation, running until 19 August 2025, on a package of reforms to improve the current NHS dental contract and improve the experience of NHS dentistry for patients. From 2026-27 the proposals are intended to:
Make it easier for those who need dental care and treatment to get it by requiring all practices to provide an agreed amount of urgent and unscheduled care which is accessible to all who need it, irrespective of whether they have been to the practice before.
Deliver improvements in the clinical care and treatment received by people with complex care needs. We will do this by introducing new care pathways which integrate prevention and treatment, with fairer payment arrangements for the professionals treating them, and without fear of excessive charges for patients.
Deliver improvements in preventive oral care for children, including through the promotion of fluoride varnish treatment.
Reduce the number of people in good oral health being recalled to the dentist too frequently and the costs to patients associated with that. Guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence states that people with healthy teeth and gums should be seen every 12 to 24 months. Making this a reality will enable practices to provide better care to those patients who are most in need.
Make dental staff feel valued members of the wider NHS and able to focus on quality of care. We will do this by developing minimum terms of engagement for dental associates, supporting performance evaluation through appraisals, and extending eligibility for discretionary support payments.
This consultation is an important step towards the fundamental reform to the dental contract that we committed to in our manifesto, for which the process will begin this year. We want a contract that matches resources to need, improves access, promotes prevention and rewards dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability.
We will also deliver a step change in prevention, which is key to good oral health.
On 7 March 2025, we announced £11.4 million to implement the manifesto commitment for a national, targeted supervised toothbrushing scheme for three to five-year-olds. In addition to this investment, we have secured an innovative partnership with Colgate, which has generously committed to donate over 23 million toothbrushes and toothpastes over the next five years. Together we will reach up to 600,000 children, with the first donations being made before the school holidays.
Following public consultation, we also announced the expansion of community water fluoridation across the north-east of England, which will reach an additional 1.6 million people.
Taken together, these reforms represent vital steps in our plan to build an NHS dental service fit for the future.
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