Addressing dental deserts

19 April 2023

How we are supporting the industry to improve access to dentistry

By Catherine Rutland, Clinical Director at Denplan

In late March I was delighted to represent Denplan at a parliamentary reception we co-hosted with the Oral Health Foundation on the theme of ‘dental deserts’.

Access to dental care has been one of the most prominent healthcare issues over the past couple of years as millions of patients live now live in so-called ‘dental deserts’ across the country and struggle to access NHS dentistry services.

Whilst the pandemic exacerbated issues around access to dentistry in the UK, this has been a longstanding problem. According to our members, current challenges and pressures caused by the contract are resulting in many practices scaling back on their NHS activity or leaving the NHS altogether – as economic and time pressures leave them unable to sustain their practices and follow a preventive model of care.

This is as big a concern to Denplan and our members as it is to policymakers, and so I welcome the fact that the Health and Social Care Committee is currently leading an inquiry into NHS Dentistry.

I welcome too the perseverance of parliamentarians like Peter Aldous MP, the Conservative MP for Waveney, in continuing to advocate for better access to dentistry for his constituents. We were delighted that he spoke at our event and has tabled a Backbench Business Debate on this issue for 27^th April. I will be listening with great interest.

I was grateful as well to Yasmin Qureshi MP, Labour MP and Chair of the APPG on Dentistry and Oral Health, for making a speech at the event to provide attendees with an update on the important work that the APPG is doing to promote the accessibility of dental care across the country. 

This event therefore came at a very timely point in the policy cycle when it is crucial that the Government and sector work together to tackle ‘dental deserts’.

In doing so, it is essential that the Government and policymakers recognise the importance of a mixed economy in the sector, as the pandemic demonstrated that private and mixed dentists were vital in supporting the NHS to address the backlog and provide patients with the treatment they needed. Private and mixed practice are often able to place a deeper focus on preventive care, as they can build this into their payment models.

I was pleased to have had the opportunity to raise these points directly with Neil O’Brien MP, Primary Care and Public Health Minister, who joined our reception, and I look forward to continuing to engage with him and his team in the coming months to collaborate on our shared goal of improving access and recruitment and retention in the sector.