Latest news with #DentistsforAll
Daily Mirror
6 days ago
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Millions with 'unmet need' give up even trying for NHS dentist appointment
NHS polling suggests 14 million people in England are living with an 'unmet need' but are unable to get an NHS dentist More people are giving up even trying to get a dental appointment amid the ongoing NHS access crisis. More than a quarter of the adult population in England have an 'unmet need' for dentistry and are unable to access an NHS dentist according to the GP Patient Survey 2025. Analysis by the British Dental Association (BDA) shows that within this, some 5.9 million people have given up trying, saying 'I didn't think I could get an NHS dentist'. It suggests an increase of 550,000 people giving up when compared to 2024. BDA Chair Eddie Crouch said: 'We'll never make the shift from sickness to prevention when millions have given up even trying to access care.' READ MORE: Dentist being fined £150K by NHS for keeping patients' teeth too healthy The Government has made 'from sickness to prevention' one of the three key pillars of its NHS reform plans. The latest annual primary care survey of 700,000 patients suggests unmet need for NHS dentistry remains at an all-time high of £13.8 million of the population of England. Within this 5.7 million had tried and failed to get an appointment with an NHS dentist. Some 1.3 million were unable to access care because NHS dental charges were too expensive for them. The survey suggests 880,000 were on a waiting list for an NHS dentist. It comes after dentistry minister Stephen Kinnock vowed to revamp the NHS dental contract during this parliament. The contract is blamed by many for the current crisis which means most dentists are no longer taking on new NHS patients. It has been branded 'not fit for purpose' by the Health Committee and 'perverse' by the British Dental Association, as it disincentivises treating people who need care most. Dentists make a financial loss on high-needs patients. Contract reform is a key demand of the Mirror 's Dentists for All campaign and it comes a week after a series of special reports last week from Devon which is one of Britain's worst 'dentistry deserts'. However minister Kinnock admitted during evidence before the Health Committee this week that overall funding for NHS dentistry was unlikely to be substantially increased. The current £3 billion budget for England is only enough to fund care for half the population. The committee heard that the budget for England has fallen from £3.6 billion in a decade and the British Dental Association said it has meant a funding cut of a third in real terms. Eddie Crouch added: 'Our patients continue to face an historic crisis, that requires a proportionate response from government. 'Ministers agree that NHS dentistry is at death's door. But they don't appear ready yet to invest in the rebuild. It will take both urgency and ambition to save NHS dentistry.' A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: 'We inherited a broken NHS dental system and have begun fixing it, including 700,000 urgent appointments and supervised toothbrushing for young children in deprived areas. Our 10 Year Health Plan will transform dentistry. New reforms to the dental contract will prioritise those with urgent and complex needs, with new measures for those with extreme tooth decay and gum disease. 'We are also committed to fundamentally reforming the dental contract by the end of this parliament and ensuring NHS-trained dentists stay in the system for a minimum period '
Daily Mirror
09-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
'I've been pulling my own teeth out for 8 years due to NHS dental crisis'
Patients tell how they 'don't smile out of embarrassment' and live in constant pain because they can't get an NHS dentist People are living in constant pain and too embarrassed to smile because of the collapse in access to NHS dentistry, the Mirror can reveal. Today we outline harrowing patient stories from around the country caused by the collapse in NHS access as part of our Dentists for All campaign. More than 260,000 people signed the Mirror's petition calling for NHS dentistry to be rescued and many of them have written to their local MP with their own personal stories including surviving on painkillers, struggling to eat and pulling out their own remaining teeth. They tell of calling around every NHS dentist in their area to be told they are not taking on new patients, and being quoted up to £14,000 to be treated privately. Sally Brudenell told of problems getting a dentist in North Dorset, writing: 'I am in considerable and constant pain from my teeth and dental work that is decades old. I have always taken great care and pride in my teeth but now I don't smile from embarrassment. Please help me and so many other financially poor pensioners' Lizzie Savage, from Durham, wrote: 'Please can the government invest more in dentistry for the NHS. I have been removing my own teeth over the last eight years. Eating meals is a real challenge as I then have to get my small dental kit to remove lodged food inside my gums. I am not a qualified dentist but a disabled NHS nurse.' Monica Finlay wrote to James Asser MP, her local MP for West Ham and Beckton. She said: 'I am 68 years old and retired and cannot find a dentist to carry out work on my teeth. I am a pensioner so cannot afford private dental work. I have one remaining chewing tooth which is now loose. "I find it extremely difficult to eat and will only be able to eat soft food once the tooth falls out. I think it's outrageous that dentistry is now out of the reach of most working class people who either cannot find a dentist or cannot afford dental treatment.' Mother-of-five Marquita Church, 65, from Cornwall, said: 'I alongside hundreds, maybe thousands of people over 65 who can not afford private dental treatment am losing all of my teeth. With no hope of getting dentures or any kind of help at all. Pulling teeth out yourself is a very painful experience. Not being able to smile is another level. We need NHS dental treatment now, not in five or ten years. Please, please help.' Lack of funding and the outdated payment system means most dental practices are no longer accepting new adult patients. The overall NHS dentistry budget for England has remained at around £3 billion for 15 years. This has meant a £1 billion real terms cut over this period due to inflation. It means 13 million Brits are living with an 'unmet need' for dental care according to official data. Recent polling suggested that among those who could not get an NHS dental appointment, 26% performed DIY dentistry such as yanking out their own teeth and 19% went abroad for treatment. The Mirror's petition was set up in conjunction with the British Dental Association and campaigning platform 38 Degrees. Signatories received an email notifying them of a debate on the crisis which took place in the House of Commons last month. In response, many signatories then emailed their MP to ask them to attend. Their correspondence reveal the desperation of people calling around all dental practices in their area to no avail. One such signatory was Jack Nkala who wrote to his local MP for Cambridge Daniel Zeichner MP, saying the city remains a 'dental desert'. He added: 'There are never any spaces for NHS patients like myself. I literally reduced to using one part of my jaw to chew, due to rotten teeth and infected gums.' Sandra Keeling, a 78-year-old widow from Lancashire, wrote that 'the health service is overwhelmed and requires fixing', adding: 'I'm on a very tight budget but have recently had to book an appointment with a local dentist, the earliest date is Friday, 11th July and I have had to pay £124 up front!' READ MORE: 'I pulled my own tooth out with a pipe wrench because of the unbearable toothache' David Beacham, from Derbyshire, said: 'I recently had a root and crown job done at a Matlock dentist and this cost me £320 - not a small amount. They are now private only and in future that would cost £1,750. There is no way on earth I can afford that. I currently have another tooth problem, what are we supposed to do? Grin and bear it or pull my own teeth out?' Julian Hughes, 65, from Somerset, has been a full-time carer to his wife since 2008. He said: 'I have had reason to search yet again for an NHS dentist just this week as I have a tooth that needs to be removed and is extremely painful, but to no avail. am constantly phoning practices only to be told we do not take NHS patients. They do give me a rough quote for the extraction which on top of the consultancy fee amount to over £300. I cannot afford this being a carer, what on earth am I expected to do?' One signatory was a dental practice manager from a surgery in Durham. He said: 'Every day we get between 10 and 20 calls from patients in pain who cannot find an NHS dentist. It was policy under the last government to demolish NHS dentistry to save money in the NHS however nothing has changed with the new government. "We have been contacted by patients who cannot start their cancer treatments because they need a dentist to sign them off as dentally fit before starting chemo and radiotherapy. Or consider the worsening state of children's oral health. Or consider the oral cancers being missed because patients can't get a regular exam. Not to mention life threatening swellings turning up at A&E. 'We kept our books open as long as we possibly could but eventually had to stop taking new patients. We are now in the situation that existing patients can't get appointments for weeks or even months and have no diary space for new patients. Please make a difference, please help.' READ MORE: NHS dental crisis forces desperate patients to queue down street for treatment Jacqueline Keerie, from Derbyshire, said: 'Having been a dental nurse for over 15 years and now in my 70's I never thought in my lifetime that NHS dentistry would cease to exist. I know many people who have resorted to painful extractions by themselves. I feel thoroughly ashamed that a profession I loved is in this sorry state.' Roland Randall wrote to his local MP for St Neots and Mid Cambridgeshire, Ian Sollom. He said: 'I had polymyalgia a few years ago and my GP put me on large doses of steroids for two years. As a result I lost many of my teeth and I was quoted £14,000 for dental treatment - way beyond my budget. I know many people like me, who cannot get on a NHS list or afford treatment. Something must be done.' Dentists for All campaign Save NHS Dentistry petition Sign our petition to save NHS dentistry and make it fit for the 21st century Our 3 demands Everyone should have access to an NHS dentist More than 12 million people were unable to access NHS dental care last year – more than 1 in 4 adults in England. At the same time 90% of dental practices are no longer accepting new NHS adult patients. Data from the House of Commons Library showed 40% of children didn't have their recommended annual check-up last year. Restore funding for dental services and recruit more NHS dentists The UK spends the smallest proportion of its heath budget on dental care of any European nation. Government spending on dental services in England was cut by a quarter in real terms between 2010 and 2020. The number of NHS dentists is down by more than 500 to 24,151 since the pandemic. Change the contracts A Parliamentary report by the Health Select Committee has branded the current NHS dentists' contracts as 'not fit for purpose' and described the state of the service as "unacceptable in the 21st century". The system effectively sets quotas on the maximum number of NHS patients a dentist can see as it caps the number of procedures they can perform each year. Dentists also get paid the same for delivering three or 20 fillings, often leaving them out of pocket. The system should be changed so it enables dentists to treat on the basis of patient need. Have you had to resort to drastic measures because you couldn't access an NHS dentist? Are you a parent struggling to get an appointment for a child? Email or call 0800 282591 Matthew McGregor, chief executive at 38 Degrees, said: 'In every single constituency across the country, adults and children are living with the consequences of the dentistry crisis: pain, worry, and deteriorating dental health. So it's no wonder that more than a quarter of a million people - including many Mirror readers - have signed our petition to save NHS dentistry and demand urgent action from the Government. "Last year, Prime Minister Keir Starmer was elected on a promise to tackle the NHS dentistry crisis and reform the broken system - voters expect him to make good on that commitment. Now it's time they deliver.' A 'flawed' NHS payment contract sees dentists make a loss on some procedures and has caused an exodus to the private sector. The incoming Labour government last year promised to reform the dental contract but negotiations have been held up by the Treasury which has been reluctant to commit to a substantial funding boost. Eddie Crouch, chair of the British Dental Association, said: 'Each of these horror stories is the direct result of choices made in Westminster. Rachel Reeves can consign 'DIY' dentistry to the dustbin of history but without a change in tack that's exactly where NHS dentistry is heading.' A spokesman for the Department of Health and Social Care said: 'This government inherited a broken NHS dental sector after years of neglect, but we are getting on with fixing it through our Plan for Change. We've already begun the rollout of 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments, and a 'golden hello' scheme is underway to recruit dentists to areas with most need – with hundreds of posts advertised. 'We will also reform the dental contract to make NHS work more appealing to dentists, and we've announced a national supervised toothbrushing programme to prevent tooth decay in young children.'
Daily Mirror
09-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
Major NHS change will see everyone get a dentist within next four years
Big win for the Mirror's Dentists for All campaign as the Government commits to scrapping the 'absurd' NHS dental contract this Parliament Everyone who needs an urgent NHS dental appointment will be able to get one within four years, the Government has said. The minister with responsibility for dentistry has committed to reforming the flawed NHS dental contract by the end of this Parliament in a major win for the Mirror 's Dentists for All campaign. Health minister Stephen Kinnock gave the commitment when being grilled by MPs on the Health and Social Care Select Committee. Currently most dental practices are not taking on new NHS patients and millions of people cannot get a dentist. Stressing the urgency for reform, Mr Kinnock, Minister for Care, said: 'We're on a burning platform." "We have a moral imperative to fix NHS dentistry in our country. How can it be that we live in a country where the biggest cause of 5 to 9 year old children being taken to hospital is to have their decaying teeth removed? Tooth decay is an almost entirely preventable problem.' READ MORE: Dentist: 'I feel guilty but I'm quitting the NHS to earn more going private' The NHS dental contract has been branded 'perverse' by the British Dental Association as it disincentivises treating people who need care most - because dentists make a financial loss on high-needs patients. Last week's Ten Year Health Plan sparked fears that proper reform of the dental contract will be kicked into the long grass until after the next General Election. It only said that by 2035 a new contract would be at the heart of a "transformed" NHS system. Mr Kinnock said: 'We are absolutely clear that we have to fix this before the end of this Parliament. We want transformed NHS dentistry by 2035. But it is absolutely clear that the fundamental contract reform to put us on the pathway to change has to happen within this parliament. 'What does success look like by the end of this Parliament set for success? Everyone who needs access to urgent and unscheduled care must be able to access it and dentists must be incentivised and motivated to deliver NHS dentistry.' The Government commitment comes in the week the Mirror has published a series of special reports from Devon which is one of Britain's worst dental deserts. We heard how the underfunded contract is driving an exodus of dentists into the private sector and children are left in pain waiting for multiple teeth to be removed. READ MORE: Dentist being fined £150K by NHS for keeping patients' teeth too healthy However Mr Kinnock suggested the Treasury is refusing to fund radical reform. Any new contract will likely recycle current "underspends" where dentists currently have to return cash due to the flawed system. The total £3 billion budget for England is only enough to fund care for half the population. The committee heard that the budget for England has fallen from £3.6 billion in a decade and the British Dental Association said this equates to a funding cut of a third in real terms. Minister Kinnock said: 'I think we've got to define what we want to do with the NHS contract, based on the reality of the finite resource that we will have. We have to work on the assumption that we will have the financial envelope in the region of the current financial settlement. That is the reality of the world that we live in. So the question then is how do we make that NHS contract work to its maximum impact for the people who need it most? 'I think we need to be very clear and robust about, with the finite resources we have, this is what we can achieve.' Dr Shiv Pabary, BDA chair of the General Dental Committee, said: 'We've lost up to a third of our budget over the last ten years [in real terms]. Dentistry has had the most amount of money reduced as a proportion of the NHS budget. The spend in 2010 was 3.3% of the NHS budget now it's down to 1.5%. 'We've had huge cuts… we need to back any new system up with the necessary funding.' A key demand of the Mirror's Dentists for All campaign is reform of the hated NHS payment contract which currently leaves practices treating high-needs NHS patients at a loss. It pays dentists the same if a patient needs three fillings as if a patient needs 20 fillings. Dental contract reform was one of Labour's main manifesto promises before the 2024 General Election. Mr Kinnock said Britain has the lowest ratio of dentists per capita of any country in the G7. He said: 'When we came into government a year ago, we inherited a system in terms of NHS dentistry that was on its knees. 'We are clear that we have to have a contract that ensures that everybody who has an urgent need for dental care gets it, that dentists are incentivised and motivated to do NHS work, and that every single penny that is allocated for NHS dentistry is spent on NHS dentistry.' He added: 'When we say everybody who needs urgent care, gets it. It's about defining what we mean by 'need'.' Interim measures announced on Tuesday will attempt to begin to change a situation where dentists are disincentivised from treating the patients who need care most. It will require practices to provide a number of additional emergency appointments, on top of their regular patients, at an improved rate. The NHS contract pays the practice for each Unit of Dental Activity - known as a UDA. A check-up is worth one UDA while a filling is worth three. Dental practices are currently paid around £40 per UDA but for these extra emergency appointments practices will be paid £70 to £75.
Daily Mirror
08-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
'I work in NHS dental desert - I feel guilty but I'm quitting to go private'
Dentist Dr Tim Hodges explains how the 'absurd' payment contract meant he was treating his NHS patients effectively for free, relying on private patients to 'prop up' NHS care A dentist in one of Britain's worst 'dental deserts' has told of his guilt at quitting the NHS to go private. Dr Tim Hodges says the perverse NHS payment contract - which means dentists make a loss treating the most in-need patients - meant he was effectively doing NHS work 'for free' so will now do more lucrative private work instead. It is the latest in a series of Mirror special reports for the Dentists for All campaign from Devon - which NHS data suggests is one of Britain's worst dental deserts. There is a hidden oral health crisis that sees many families locked out of NHS care for years and children losing teeth having never seen a dentist. Today we report claims that the pressure to 'churn' through NHS patients could be contributing to high suicide rates among dentists. Tim, 42, is a local lad who grew up near Axminster in a big NHS family. Both his parents were local GPs and he is one of five siblings - three are now doctors and two are dentists. 'I feel a huge amount of guilt,' he admitted. 'My NHS work was breaking even. I don't want to say it felt like charity work, but basically it was doing it for nothing. The private side was propping it up which wasn't really fair on the private patients.' The NHS system includes two types of dentists; Associate dentists, who are essentially self-employed, have their own patient lists and pay a rent to the practice business to use the premises, support staff and materials. Then there is the owner, or partner in ownership, of the practice business. Dr Tim Hodges has been a partner at Axminster Dental Practice since 2011 when it saw mostly NHS patients and he became the sole owner in 2024. The NHS contract pays the practice for each Unit of Dental Activity - known as a UDA. A check-up is worth one UDA while a filling is worth three. Axminster Dental Practice, owned by Dr Hodges, was receiving £30 from the NHS per UDA, and of that, an associate dentist would be paid £13.65. Dr Hodges said: 'You're not talking very different pay from a tradesman and you start to think, is £80,000 worth of debt from university worth it for that level of salary? 'My issue was that we have three associate dentists at the practice. They were happy but they would have eventually gone to private practice where they could earn more money, unless I could pay them more.' Dr Hodges added: 'The NHS side literally broke even and made nothing so sadly it had to go. All of our adult NHS patients, we told them we couldn't see them on the NHS any more. This is a practice I did work experience at when I was 15. I did my foundation training here after I qualified as a dentist. "Having grown up in the area with mum and dad being well known local GPs, I never really had to build up my reputation because they had done it for me. I just tried not to disappoint them. But my main feeling about it all is guilt. But it was just unviable. If you actually follow the NHS contract to the letter, and look after your patients as you're meant to, it's not really workable.' The NHS dentistry payment contract has been deemed 'not fit for purpose' by Parliament's Health and Social Care Committee. MPs on the committee will question dentistry minister Stephen Kinnock on the crisis on Wednesday. Labour 's 2024 General Election manifesto pledged fundamental reform of the NHS contract which currently means dentists get paid the same for a patient having three fillings as 20. Dr Hodges said: 'It disincentivises treating the patient who needs more care, which is just madness. Then over the years when they haven't increased the rates despite inflation then it's just become totally unmanageable.' Despite stopping seeing adult patients on the NHS, such is the demand in Devon, Dr Hodges still has 1,200 patients on his waiting list to become private patients. Dr Hodges still sees his remaining child patients but has closed the list. READ MORE: Dentist being fined £150K by NHS for keeping patients' teeth too healthy He said: 'When you compare the NHS contract now to what you can earn privately, the gap is just vast. But it's not just that. It's actually having the freedom to look after the patient as well as you can rather than churning through them like you're on a treadmill. 'You can book that patient in for a long enough time to care for them properly. And also for your own personal wellbeing. There's actually a quite high suicide rate among dentists and I think a lot of that is due to the pressures that come with having to churn through patients.' UK research in 2020 suggested that around 10% of dentists had recently considered suicide. Dr Hodges warns that children not getting regular dental check-ups risks life-long health harms. He said: 'You're going to have kids with no teeth basically. And with young kids fortunately it might not make a big difference but once they hit teenage years it's a real worry. 'Fortunately I've not come across it much but it's almost more of a worry that I've not come across it because it's known that the government only funds dentistry for 50% of the population. So if everyone wanted to see an NHS dentist only half the population could. We're in a scenario where those that really need NHS care don't get it and it is pretty upsetting really.' Emergency measures announced by the Government on Tuesday will attempt to begin to change a situation where dentists are disincentivised from treating the patients who need care most. The interim measures include a new time-limited 'care pathway' for higher needs patients so dentists get paid more for clinically complex cases. Other proposals going out to consultation include paying dentists extra for a special course of treatment for patients with severe gum disease or with at least five teeth with tooth decay. There will also be more money for denture modifications. Last week's Ten Year Health Plan sparked fears that proper reform will be kicked into the long grass until after the next General Election. It only said that by 2035 a new dental contract would be at the heart of a "transformed" NHS system. And there is uncertainty as to what extent the Treasury will fund radical reform. The British Dental Association has labelled the contract 'absurd' and calculates that a typical practice loses over £40 producing a set of dentures £7 on a new patient exam. BDA Chair Eddie Crouch said: "Savage cuts mean many dentists aren't just working for free, they're delivering NHS care at a loss. No health professional should be expected to work on this basis, and no business can stay afloat. If NHS dentistry is going to have a future we need real reform and sustainable funding." Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said: 'We inherited a broken NHS dental system that is in crisis. We have already started fixing this, rolling out 700,000 urgent and emergency appointments and bringing in supervising toothbrushing for 3 to 5 year olds in the most deprived areas of the country. "But to get us to a place where patients feel NHS dentistry is reliable again, we have to tackle the problems in the system at their root. These reforms will bring common sense into the system again, attracting more NHS dentists, treating those with the greatest need first and changing the system to make it work. "This is essential to our Plan for Change - building an NHS fit for the future and making sure poor oral health doesn't hold people back from getting into work and staying healthy.' Dentists for All campaign Save NHS Dentistry petition Sign our petition to save NHS dentistry and make it fit for the 21st century Our 3 demands Everyone should have access to an NHS dentist More than 12 million people were unable to access NHS dental care last year – more than 1 in 4 adults in England. At the same time 90% of dental practices are no longer accepting new NHS adult patients. Data from the House of Commons Library showed 40% of children didn't have their recommended annual check-up last year. Restore funding for dental services and recruit more NHS dentists The UK spends the smallest proportion of its heath budget on dental care of any European nation. Government spending on dental services in England was cut by a quarter in real terms between 2010 and 2020. The number of NHS dentists is down by more than 500 to 24,151 since the pandemic. Change the contracts A Parliamentary report by the Health Select Committee has branded the current NHS dentists' contracts as 'not fit for purpose' and described the state of the service as "unacceptable in the 21st century". The system effectively sets quotas on the maximum number of NHS patients a dentist can see as it caps the number of procedures they can perform each year. Dentists also get paid the same for delivering three or 20 fillings, often leaving them out of pocket. The system should be changed so it enables dentists to treat on the basis of patient need. Have you had to resort to drastic measures because you couldn't access an NHS dentist? Are you a parent struggling to get an appointment for a child? Email or call 0800 282591 The interim measures will now form part of a six-week public consultation on the future of the NHS dental system. Jason Wong, Chief Dental Officer for England, said: 'Far too many patients are waiting too long to see a dentist, and while steps have been taken to turn this around, there is still further to go. That is why I'm urging the public to take part in this consultation and give their views on our plans, so we can strengthen this vital part of the NHS.'
Daily Mirror
07-07-2025
- Health
- Daily Mirror
NHS makes major change after dentist fined £150K for keeping teeth too healthy
Boost for Mirror's Dentists for All campaign after we revealed how dentists are being 'fined' by the NHS for keeping their patients' teeth too healthy NHS changes have been announced to pay dentists more to treat those most in need. The Government has outlined a series of changes while it rips up and redesigns NHS dentistry. The interim fixes are published a day after the Mirror 's Dentists for All campaign exposed the perverse incentives at the heart of the NHS crisis. Rob Mew told how he is currently being fined £150,000 by the NHS effectively for keeping his patients too healthy with regular check-ups and preventative work. Emergency measures announced on Tuesday will tackle a situation where dentists are disincentivised from treating the patients who need care most. Writing for the Mirror, health minister Stephen Kinnock said: 'Once again it falls to a Labour government to give all people the healthcare they deserve, not just those who can afford it. The Mirror's Dentists for All campaign has exposed the shocking state of NHS dentistry after 14 years of Conservative mismanagement.' The Mirror came to Devon - one of Britain's worst dental deserts - for the first of a series of special reports on the crisis. We visited Fairfield House Dental Surgery in Exmouth which is one of the few in the county still seeing NHS patients. Units of Dental Activity (UDAs) are the metric used by the NHS dental contract - which has been deemed 'not fit for purpose' by Parliament's Health and Social Care Committee. It requires practices to agree to perform a set number of UDAs - and they are penalised if they come in below this. A check-up is worth one UDA while giving a patient a filling racks up three UDAs. Fairfield owner Rob Mew told the Mirror: 'We are being penalised for preventing patients requiring more UDAs. We have £150,000 'claw back' this year but we have 19,000 NHS patients which is more than the practice has ever had. The clawback is for not doing enough UDAs but when patients are being looked after better they don't have as much need for dental work.' The NHS contract currently means dentists get paid the same for a patient having three fillings as 20. However interim measures confirmed today include a new time-limited 'care pathway' for higher needs patients so dentists get paid more for clinically complex cases. Other proposals going out to consultation include paying dentists extra for a special course of treatment for patients with severe gum disease or with at least five teeth with tooth decay. There will also be more money for denture modifications. Stephen Kinnock, the Minister of State for Care While he was Health Secretary, Nye Bevan received a letter from an elderly woman in Lancashire. She was overwhelmed with gratitude to have received dentures, free of charge, on the new National Health Service. She wrote: 'Now I can go out in any company.' The shame of the state of her teeth had trapped her in her home. The NHS liberated her. Once again, it falls to a Labour government to give all people the healthcare they deserve, not just those who can afford it. The Mirror's Dentists for All campaign has exposed the shocking state of NHS dentistry after 14 years of Conservative mismanagement. We've started the work on fixing, with an extra 700,000 urgent and emergency appointments this year through our Plan for Change. But with problems in dentistry that run this deep, we need to drill down and extract the problem at its roots. That means completely reforming the dental contract, which right now is making it unattractive to offer NHS dental care, especially for those who need it most. That's why we're opening up a major consultation into our proposed first changes to the dental contract today. It isn't right that it's less cost effective for dentists to take on patients who need more complex and extensive treatments such as crowns, bridges and dentures. Our plans will rip up nonsensical processes like these – and we want to know from dentists what other changes like these we need to make. Our plans will bring in urgent care for those most in need: with new, special treatments for patients with severe gum disease or terrible teeth decay, and a requirement for dentists to deliver a set amount of urgent and unscheduled appointments each year. And we'll make sure children's teeth are better protected. On top of our supervised tooth brushing programme already rolled out across schools in England, we'll bring in preventative measures for children's teeth, including better use of tooth resin sealants for children with a history of dental decay and applying fluoride varnish on children's without a full dental check-up. Importantly, we'll bring in those measures dental staff have told us they need to feel rewarded, incentivised and a bigger part of the NHS. Along with our changes last week to ensure that newly qualified dentists practise in the NHS for a minimum period, intended to be three years, we are rebuilding NHS dentistry. It will take time, but it's only with this government that patients will have a repaired dental service, and an NHS that is truly fit for the future. The changes Government announced will also require practices to provide a number of additional emergency appointments, on top of their regular patients, at an improved rate. Tuesday marks the start of a six week public consultation on major reform of the dental contract - but, crucially, the Government has given no timeline for it to be implemented. The Government unveiled its Ten Year Health Plan last week which sparked fears that proper contract reform will be kicked into the long grass until after the next General Election. It only said that by 2035 a new dental contract would be at the heart of a "transformed" NHS system. And there is uncertainty as to what extent the Treasury will fund radical reform. The new interim measures being announced today are 'cost neutral' and will redistribute the existing NHS dentistry budget - which is only enough to treat half the population in England. The share of government health spending allocated to dentistry halved under previous Conservative administrations, from 3.3% of the overall budget in 2010/11 to just 1.5% in 2023/24. The British Dental Association (BDA) says dentistry has been subject to real-terms cuts not seen anywhere else in the NHS. Shiv Pabary, chair of the BDA's General Dental Practice Committee, said: 'These small, positive improvements are about as far as we can fix NHS dentistry while a broken system remains in place. We can steady the ship, but this is not the final destination for a service still at risk of going under.'
