Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment she has made of the adequacy of the number of dentists taking on new patients compared to patient demand.

National Health Service dental activity as measured by Courses of Treatments delivered has increased by 23% between 2021/22 and 2022/23. NHS dentists are now required to update their NHS website profiles regularly, to ensure patients have access to up-to-date information on where they can access care. From 1 April 2023, the commissioning responsibility for commissioning primary care dentistry to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards (ICBs) across England. ICBs became responsible for having local processes in place to involve patient groups, and for undertaking oral health needs assessments, to identify areas of need and determine the priorities for investment.