The Government have launched a new NHS Dental Recovery Plan, backed by £200 million of additional funding, which will deliver an extra 2.5 million NHS dental appointments over the next year.
To help improve access in the short term, new dental vans are being launched to help reach more isolated communities, including across rural areas. In the longer term, around 240 dentists will be offered one-off payments of up to £20,000 for working in under-served areas for up to three years, helping to attract new NHS dentists and improve provision of care in areas with the highest demand.
Further measures include introducing a New Patient Premium payment to incentivise dentists to treat around a million new patients who have not seen an NHS dentists in two or more years, which will come into effect within weeks.
Trainee dental places will be expanded by 40 per cent as part of the first ever NHS Long Term Workforce Plan, with particular emphasis on areas of the country that are underserved by the dental workforce.
Expanded prevention care is also being rolled out for younger children. The Smile for Life programme will offer parents-to-be further advice for baby gums and milk teeth, with babies and toddlers in nurseries having tooth brushing as part of the daily routine as well.
Julian Smith said, “Every one of my constituents should be able to access NHS dentistry quickly and easily, and I understand people’s frustration when they need to see a dentist but struggle to get an NHS appointment.
“I’m therefore really pleased with the Government’s new plan, creating 2.5 million more NHS dental appointments over the next twelve months.
“There are undeniably unique challenges to accessing dentistry in rural areas like ours, so I’m also encouraged by the focus on targeted expansion to areas which have traditionally been underserved.”
