From BBC UK today:
The traditional model of NHS dentistry is gone for good, experts are warning.
The Nuffield Trust think tank said the service had been cut back so much it was now at the most perilous position in its 75-year history in England. It said restoring services would probably need an unrealistic amount of money and called for radical reform, suggesting NHS support may need to be completely scaled back for some adults.
The government said it would be publishing a recovery plan soon.
The Nuffield Trust said funding for NHS dentistry had suffered huge cuts in recent years. Some £3.1bn was spent in 2021-22 – a drop of £525m since 2014-15 once inflation is taken into account. It said the number of treatments being done each year was now six million lower than it was before the pandemic.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-67754983
The full report and the press releases make no mention of Scotland other than this:
Compared to England’s 4.3 dentists per 10,000 population in 2021/22, Northern Ireland had 6, Scotland had 5.9 and Wales had 4.6.
https://www.nuffieldtrust.org.uk/research/bold-action-or-slow-decay-the-state-of-nhs-dentistry-and-future-policy-actions
Remarkably, for a research group which has often revealed Scotland’s superior NHS, they do not mention this:
https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/dental-statistics-registration-and-participation/dental-statistics-nhs-registration-and-participation-24-january-2023/
95.4% of the Scottish population were registered with an NHS dentist as at 30 September 2022. Nearly all adults living in the most deprived areas were registered with an NHS dentist in September 2022, compared to 91.9% in the least deprived areas.
or this:
From Public Health Scotland on 22 August 2023: The number of examinations paid in the quarter ending June 2023 was 782,783; an increase of 8% compared to the previous quarter (727,751). This was the fourth quarter in a row when examinations increased.
https://www.publichealthscotland.scot/publications/nhs-dental-treatments-report-quarterly/nhs-dental-treatment-statistics-quarter-ending-30-june-2023
BBC Scotland? The SNP Government headline with a glum picture of the Finance Secretary and worries about plugging its £1.5bn shortfall.
Talking-up Scotland 'Albatraz' 
There is a bit of a trick going on in Scotland with some dentists what they are doing is making a judgement on your ability to afford payment and after beginning treatment telling you the cost as a private patient even though you are registered as an NHS patient and when you query this you find that they removed you from their NHS list because you did not respond to their last text or email asking you to make an appointment .
This happened to me and other people have told me it happened to them.
I’ve recently heard my own practice is going total private from 1/1/24.
An air of change is afoot but no government announcement at all.
The nonsense about no money for it is simply a case of government cutting expenditure forcing dentists to take the strain , many are choosing to go private, fewer customers but bigger profits for less work and stuff the public health.
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In Scotland if dentists want to remove an NHS patient from their list they have to give the patient 3 months notice in writing. If a patient is violent or abusive then they can be removed immediately.
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And if a new dentist takes over the practice do they have to give three months notice to their newly acquired list
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I think so. If you are registered you are registered for life
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The Nuffield Trust report on England reveals some ‘interesting’ things about dental services there (with my emphasis):
– ‘Unlike GP services, PATIENTS ARE NOT REGISTERED WITH AN NHS DENTIST AND DENTAL PRACTICES DO NOT HAVE TO HOLD A LIST OF PATIENTS. This means that dental practices can choose whether to offer patients NHS dental services based on their capacity to deliver care. When a patient receives NHS dental care from a dental practice, the provider has to complete the course of treatment. Providers may choose to treat regular patients via regular recalls, but there is no obligation for them to maintain the relationship.’
– ‘Prior to the pandemic, FUNDING FROM NHS ENGLAND FELL BY 15% in real terms between 2014/15 and 2019/20,3 and INCOME FROM PATIENT CHARGES INCREASED BY 8%.’
And oddly:
– ‘Despite the overall fall in the central budget for dental services, IT HAS CONSISTENTLY BEEN UNDERSPENT in every year apart from 2020/21, the year of the pandemic. Recent data released by the British Dental Association indicates A PROJECTED UNDERSPEND OF £400 MILLION IN 2022/23, AMOUNTING TO AROUND 13% OF THE OVERALL BUDGET.
‘These underspends, which have been around £150m every year since 2017/18 (apart from 2020/21), occur because the dental contract allocates funding per practice, which is “clawed back” if activity is not delivered or if there are no contractors available to deliver the activity at all.’
– ‘recent announcements from NHS England have led to these underspends in dentistry being used to shore up wider NHS funding’
So by this means Westminster can reduce the scale of uplift to the overall NHS England budget to meet its evident need. Might this have over time a knock-on negative impact on consequentials for NI, Scotland and Wales if they have no dentistry underspend?
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Every dental appointment I have had for years ended up with just a bit of a scrub to my teeth and a polish then sent on my way , I wonder if dentists are actually looking after their NHS patients teeth properly.
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I go to my dentist every 6 months and it usually leads onto other treatment as I have a long history of problems with my teeth since early childhood. I certainly think I’m getting a good deal from my NHS dentist.
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Yes I think they are. For years I was like you and needed very little done. It is only in recent years – increasing age – that I have needed work done but even now it is not a lot.
My husband on the other hand needs work done nearly every time he goes.
Thankfully our son inherited my teeth.
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Since November this year they no longer offer dental hygiene if your teeth are in category 1 or 2. It is when your teeth reach 3 or 4 that it is then given.
What happened to preventative care?
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The Chancellor of the Exchequer has reduced National Insurance contributions from 12% to 10% while keeping income tax personal allowances frozen at the current amount until 2028.
Could this be the beginning of phasing out funding of the NHS from National Insurance contributions to income tax?
If future Chancellor’s of the Exchequer reduce National Insurance contributions by 2% every year up to and including 2028, it would be gone by 2029.
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