Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what advice his Department provides to parents if NHS dental services are not available for their children locally.

In circumstances where parents are unable to access an urgent dental appointment for their child directly through a National Health Service dental practice, they are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance. In September 2022, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’ which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including for children, whilst making the NHS dental contract more attractive to dental practices. These changes have been implemented, including through regulations that came into effect on 25th November 2022. NHS England is holding further discussions with the British Dental Association and other stakeholders for additional reforms of the NHS Dental System planned to take place in 2023.