New reforms will tackle those with urgent and complex needs, as well as new measures for those with extreme tooth decay and gum disease.
The government is proposing new reforms to the dental contract that will prioritise those with urgent and complex needs, as well as new measures for those with extreme tooth decay and gum disease and has opened up a consultation on NHS dentistry contract to increase the amount of care.
The proposals have been welcomed by Healthwatch England. Spokesperson Benedict Knox said they had “the potential to incentivise dentists” to take on the most complex cases and make sure that people are seen.
In its manifesto, the Labour Party committed to deliver 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments every year and pledged to ramp up preventative care for children’s dental health.
This comes against a background of increasing dissatisfaction with NHS dentistry. The British Dental Association estimates that more than one in four adults is struggling to access NHS dental care. At the same time almost a quarter of (22.4%) of five year old schoolchildren in England had experience of obvious dental decay, with tooth decay the most common reason for hospital admissions in children aged between five and nine years.
Root problems
Planned changes include a requirement that newly qualified dentists work in the NHS for a minimum period, intended to be three years, to boost appointments. It is also talking about a new course of treatment for patients with severe gum disease or with at least five teeth with tooth decay, more money for denture modifications, and a requirement for dentists to deliver a set amount of urgent and unscheduled care each year.
The government will also bring in robust preventative measures for children’s teeth, including better use of tooth resin sealants for children with a history of dental decay and applying fluoride varnish on children’s teeth without a full dental check-up.
At the same time, the government wants to address the issue that it is now currently cost-effective for dentists to take on patients who need more complex and extensive treatments such as crowns, bridges and dentures. It is proposing to overhaul approaches like these and incentivise dentists more.
“To get us to a place where patients feel NHS dentistry is reliable again, we have to tackle the problems in the system at its root,” said health minister Stephen Kinnock:
“These reforms will bring common sense into the system again, attracting more NHS dentists, treating those with the greatest need first, and changing the system to make it work,” he added.
The consultation will end in late August.
