Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many candidates applying to join the armed forces were turned down on the basis of poor dental health in each of the last 10 years.

The Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force operate individual recruitment schemes and data on candidates who have been unable to join the Armed Forces for dental reasons is recorded separately for each Service. Data is provided for the period as held in accordance with medical record retention policies.

For the Royal Navy, 17 candidates have been placed ‘Medically On-Hold’ since June 2025. Following dental treatment, six of the 17 candidates have since been assessed as medically fit to join the Royal Navy.

Historic data on candidates to the Royal Navy who have been placed ‘Medically On-Hold’ for dental reasons is not held in the format requested and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

For the British Army, the following table provides the number of candidates who were rejected at medical review for dental reasons:

For the Royal Air Force, the following table provides the number of candidates who were coded for dental failures: