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 ensure that people can access NHS dental care to (a) register with dentists, (b) book emergency appointments and (c) have regular routine check-ups and appointments.

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 routine care. These will improve access to National Health Service dentistry whilst making the NHS dental contract more attractive to dental practices.

Through regulations updates that came into effect on 25 November 2022, NHS dentists are required to update their NHS.uk profiles at least every 90 days to ensure patients have up-to-date information on where they can access care. Patients are only registered with a dental practice for the course of their treatment.

Urgent dental care should be provided as part of NHS dentists’ core service offer to patients. In circumstances where a person is unable to access an urgent dental appointment directly through an NHS dental practice, or where parents are unable to access an urgent dental appointment for their child, they are advised to contact NHS 111 for assistance.