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 increase (a) the number of people seeing an NHS dentist and (b) access to NHS dentistry beyond the 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments.

We are determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. We will deliver 700,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year, with integrated care boards (ICBs) asked to start making extra appointments available from April 2025. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.

ICBs have started to advertise posts through the Golden Hello scheme. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years.

The most common reason children aged between five and nine years old are admitted to hospital is for tooth decay. We will work with local authorities and the NHS to introduce supervised tooth brushing for children aged between three and five years old in the most deprived communities. These programmes are proven to reduce tooth decay and to boost good practices at home.