Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government has held recent discussions with (a) the British Dental Association and (b) similar representative organisations on (i) support for dentists and (ii) encouraging take-up of NHS contracts.

We have regular discussions with the British Dental Association, other organisations in the dental sector and organisations representing dental patients to support and improve National Health Service dental care.

Stakeholders were integral to the development of ‘Our plan for patients’, announced in September 2022. This plan outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to NHS dental care. This included improving the 2006 contract to ensure fairer remuneration for practices providing complex treatment, issuing clear guidance on how often patients should expect to attend for check-ups, and enabling dentists to make better use of dental teams to deliver NHS treatment. Working together with stakeholders, these changes were implemented through regulations that came into effect on 25th November 2022.

NHS England is holding further discussions with the British Dental Association and the wider dental sector for additional reforms of the NHS Dental System, planned for 2023