Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to tackle “dental deserts” where very few NHS dentists are available.

The Government acknowledges the challenges that National Health Service dental patients are facing in accessing a dentist in particular areas of the country, and we are taking action to improve this. Integrated care boards are recruiting posts through the Golden Hello scheme, which will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in underserved areas for three years; and as announced in our 10-Year Health Plan, we will make it a requirement for newly qualified dentists to practice in the NHS for a minimum period, intended to be at least three years. That will mean more NHS dentists, more NHS appointments and better oral health.

We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on shorter term improvements to the NHS dental contract on 16 December 2025. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest needs first while incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms/outcome/government-response-to-consultation-on-nhs-dentistry-contract-quality-and-payment-reforms