21 FEB 2025

Health Minister Stephen Kinnock has announced hundreds of thousands of people across England will soon be able to access urgent and emergency dental care as the government and NHS roll out 700,000 extra urgent appointments. 

Dr Nigel Carter, CEO of the Oral Health Foundation says: “This is an encouraging step towards improving access to NHS dentistry and will make a real difference for patients in urgent need.

“However, it barely scratches the surface of the crisis facing NHS dentistry. Millions are still struggling to access routine care, and urgent appointments alone won’t solve the deeper issues in the system. We need a long-term strategy that prioritises prevention and ensures everyone can get the dental care they need before problems become emergencies.”

NHS England has written to integrated care boards (ICB) across the country, directing health chiefs in each region to set up thousands of urgent appointments over the next year. 

 Access to NHS dentistry is increasingly a lottery across the country. Statistics from the GP Patient Survey 2024 show that around 1 in 4 patients who tried to see an NHS dentist in the past two years were unable to do so.

 Previous interventions have failed to address the crisis in NHS dentistry. For example, the new patient premium – introduced as part of the dental recovery plan published in 2024 – revealed to have cost £88 million but with no impact for patients.

 Data published last week showed the number of new patients accessing NHS dentists has actually fallen by 3% since the scheme was introduced. This government has confirmed it will be scrapping the new patient premium.

The government has said that urgent dental appointments will be available from April and have been targeted at dental deserts – areas where patients particularly struggle to access NHS dentists. This includes parts of the East of England, such as Norfolk and Waveney, where there are just 31 NHS dentists respectively for every 100,000 people – way below the national average.

These extra appointments will be for patients who are likely to be in pain – including those suffering from infections or needing urgent repairs to a bridge – and require urgent treatment.  

Jason Wong, Chief Dental Officer for England said: “Dentists are working hard to help as many patients as possible but too many people experience difficulties in accessing NHS dental services.

 “It is vital that we do more to improve access – we are working with local systems to prioritise this, which includes providing 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments to help make it quicker and easier for those most in need to be seen and treated on the NHS and we are incentivising dentists to work in underserved areas so that all areas of the country can receive the care they need.”

After inheriting an NHS dental sector in crisis, the government is acting now to make it fit for the future, following years of neglect and unsuccessful interventions. 

A recent report by the National Audit Office found that access to NHS dentistry remains below pre-pandemic levels, with the previous administration’s dental recovery plan not on course to deliver its target of 1.5 million extra treatments by the end of 2024/25.

 Children’s oral health is also in crisis, with tooth decay being the number one reason that children aged 5-9 years old are admitted to hospital. More than a fifth of five-year-old school children have signs of dental decay, according to data published by OHID last week.

 The data also showed stark regional inequalities in terms of good oral health – with areas of high deprivation having rates of tooth decay more than double that of wealthier areas. For example, almost 1 in 3 children (32.2%) living in Merseyside showed signs of decay, compared to just 13.6% of kids in Gloucestershire.