Dental Services: North Dorset
(asked on 26th January 2026) - View Source
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the provision of NHS dentistry in North Dorset constituency compared to the national average.
Dental Statistics - England 2024/25, published by NHS Business Services Authority on 28 August 2025, is available at the following link:
https://www.nhsbsa.nhs.uk/statistical-collections/dental-england/dental-statistics-england-202425
The data for the Dorset Integrated Care Board (ICB), which includes the North Dorset constituency, shows that 34% of adults were seen by a National Health Service dentist in the previous 24 months up to June 2025, compared to 40% in England, and that 53% of children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2025, compared to 57% in England.
We are aware of the challenges faced in accessing a dentist, particularly in more rural areas.
We have asked ICBs to commission extra urgent dental appointments to make sure that patients with urgent dental needs can get the treatment they require. ICBs have been making extra appointments available since April 2025.
ICBs are recruiting dentists through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.
We are committed to delivering fundamental reform of the dental contract before the end of this Parliament. As a first step, on 16 December we published the Government’s response to the public consultation on quality and payment reforms to the NHS dental contract. The changes will be introduced from April 2026. These reforms will put patients with the greatest need first, incentivising urgent care and complex treatments. Further information is available at the following website: