Securing the future of dentistry in 2025 and beyond
7 January 2025
By Catherine Rutland, Clinical Director at Denplan
As we enter a new year, it’s the ideal time to reflect on the challenges and achievements of 2024 and map our future ambitions for the sector. Denplan’s work last year laid the foundation for meaningful change by strengthening our voice, and that of our members, both within the sector and with policymakers, while building momentum to address the pressing issues facing dentistry.
Looking to 2025, our focus is now on translating our recommendations into tangible actions that deliver benefits for the entire dental workforce and patients. Crucially, we will be urging the Government to take steps to meaningfully recognise the vital role of private providers and mixed practice models within our sector – and their role in addressing challenges in access to care.
2024 saw a changing political landscape, with dentistry high on the agenda
Despite the ongoing efforts of our members and the wider dental workforce, our sector continues to face significant challenges. Our latest survey of insights from our members revealed challenges such as workforce shortages and outdated funding models. We found that only 1% of members surveyed believe that the current dental model adequately supports the provision of high-quality dental care. These challenges make clear the need for reform. So, it came as no surprise that dentistry featured high on the list of health priorities during election campaigning last summer.
We now have a Labour Government, which has set clear health priorities including a welcome focus on prevention, the wellbeing of children and workforce productivity. These priorities align closely with Denplan’s vision and provide a unique opportunity to collaborate with policymakers and influence the future of oral healthcare. With increased discussion of dentistry across all political parties, evidenced by a 58% increase of dentistry mentions in Parliament since the election, we must continue to leverage this political interest.
Denplan’s work in 2024: laying the foundations for policy reform
Our work in 2024 focused on working in partnership with the sector to establish a clear understanding of the challenges facing the profession and identify solutions that will resonate with stakeholders across the sector and Government.
A key moment in the year was our parliamentary roundtable in November, chaired by Helen Morgan MP, the Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Health and Social Care, which brought together expert representatives from across the sector, as well as political stakeholders, to launch our white paper, The Future of Dentistry: Unlocking Solutions to Improving Oral Health. This paper underscored the importance of mixed dentistry model and outlined clear recommendations to:
Empower and elevate the entire dental workforce
Prioritise and expand preventative care initiatives
Ensure financial sustainability and reform funding models
Beyond our white paper, our engagement work also included meeting with individual MPs, including Anna Sabine MP, Jess Asato MP, Sarah Gibson MP and Wendy Chamberlain MP to discuss the need for reform, we also engaged a total of 190 parliamentarians across Government. Our Brightbites initiative in partnership with the dental charity Dentaid – seeking to improve awareness of oral health and its critical role in wellbeing among children – also reached a record 50,000 children by year end.
Delivering against the Future of Dentistry recommendations in 2025
The year ahead is about action.
We are committed to continuing to collaborate across the sector, including with our members, and with policymakers to drive change – by advocating for enhanced training opportunities, championing preventative dentistry and ensuring that financial frameworks support the needs of practitioners and deliver better outcomes for patients. We look forward to sharing further details on what this will look like in the months ahead.
The new year also brings opportunities to integrate dentistry into the national health agenda. This will include ensuring oral health is prioritised within the Government’s 10-Year Plan and reflected as part of the upcoming Spending Review. Key to this is securing Government recognition of the value of mixed model practices by highlighting how collaboration with the private sector can help address both the crisis in access to dental care and wider issues facing the nation (e.g. Labour’s plans to improve productivity).
We will keep aligning our recommendations for reform with the Government’s wider health agenda, particularly in prevention and health equity – demonstrating how our proposals can support them to deliver against its priorities, with dentistry recognised as a vital part of improving the nation’s health. We must also continue to emphasise how improving access to dentistry can help relieve pressure on the NHS services.
Engaging Denplan Members: Your Voice Matters
Denplan’s success is based on the strength and engagement of our members. This year, we want to build on the progress made to date – fostering collaboration with and between our members. Your voice and insights are critical in shaping our approach and ensuring we continue to advocate effectively for the needs of dental professionals.
We encourage all members to participate in Denplan campaigns, engage with local policymakers, and provide feedback to help drive change. Together, we can ensure dentistry is an integral part of the national health agenda, creating a more sustainable and equitable future for oral health in the UK.
If you’re keen to get involved or have questions, please get in touch. Let’s make 2025 a year of progress and transformation for dentistry.