Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an estimate of the number of dentists who are on the General Dental Council register but who are not regularly carrying out (a) NHS work and (b) dentistry work.

The General Dental Council (GDC) is the independent statutory regulator of dentists and dental care professionals in the United Kingdom. As such, it holds a register of qualified dental professionals. It does not, however, hold data on whether a registrant is actively practising, either in the National Health Service or privately. The NHS Dental Statistics for England, 2021/22, Annual Report estimates that 24,272 dentists performed NHS activity during 2021/22, an increase of 539 on the previous year. However, the report does not specify the frequency of this activity.