Dentists to prioritize emergency care and save some patients over £200 under plans

People who need urgent dental treatment and patients who need complex care will be prioritized under Government plans to improve access to NHS dentists in England.

The proposals could mean a saving of £225 for patients who need multiple appointments for complex treatments.

For years, many patients have found it increasingly difficult to find a dentist, with some towns in England being referred to as ‘dental deserts’, with no access to NHS dentists.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said that without more funding and real reform, the plans would not solve the current issues.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Today programme, Health Secretary Stephen Kinnock said the plans aimed to “prioritise” emergency care.

He said there was “a lot of unnecessary routine care going on” in NHS dental services at the moment.

If a patient has “good oral health,” he said, they don’t need to see the dentist “more than about once every two years.”

He said the current practice of most patients being offered NHS exams every six months was “not a good use” of dentists’ time and added it was “sucking a lot of money into NHS dentistry”.

Under the current system, which dates back to 2006, dentists are paid for so-called Dental Activity Units, known as UDAs.

Different processes – fills, extractions and more complex operations – are assigned a different number of UDAs.

Dentists providing NHS care have a contract which states how many UDAs they will carry out each year and are paid accordingly.

But that meant more money was available to dentists to perform simple checkups, rather than spending more time with patients who needed more complex, time-consuming care.

For years dentists have complained that the NHS contract for work does not cover the cost of what is being asked of them.

As a result, many dentists have moved away from NHS work – meaning it is increasingly difficult for people to access care. There are parts of the country where there is simply no access to NHS dentistry.

Under the government’s plans, there will be new incentives for dentists to offer longer-term treatments for major issues such as gum disease and tooth decay through the NHS.

Currently, a patient with cavities in multiple teeth or severe gum disease – requiring complex treatment – would have to undergo treatment in multiple appointments, which is costly and time-consuming.

However, under proposed changes to the NHS dental contract for work, dental practices will be able to offer patients a single comprehensive treatment package for longer, tailored to their needs.

And ministers claim this could save a patient up to £225 in fees.

Shiv Pabary, chairman of the BDA’s General Dentistry Committee, said “a dental crisis” had arisen as a direct result of the contract that came into force in 2006.

“The reforms announced today seek to amend a system that is broken.”

He added that until “chronic underfunding” and wider systemic problems are addressed, NHS dentistry will continue to fail for “dentists and for patients”.

“Trying to provide comprehensive care with the same budget that we have right now is going to be extremely difficult.”

Mr Kinnock said the Government had a “massive issue to fix” in dental care and was negotiating with the BDA for a “radical review” of the NHS dental contract.