A new report by the Dental Schools Council’s Oral and Dental Health Clinical Researcher Task and Finish Group sets out a path to arresting the decline in dental researchers.
It sets out recommendations to ensure the nation’s dental clinical academic workforce can rise to the challenge of narrowing oral health inequalities and meet changing population needs.
The report sets out a roadmap to recovery, outlining key recommendations for stakeholders across the oral health sector. It is the third in a series commissioned by the Office for Strategic Coordination of Health Research (OSCHR), exploring how to rebuild the country’s health research workforce.
The report commits to coordinated action from universities, healthcare organisations, research funders, professional bodies and governments across all four nations. The NHS 10 Year Plan mandates increased partnership working between universities and healthcare organisations and this is one example of that in practice.
The roadmap seeks to restore at least 75 full-time equivalent research-active academic posts over the next five years. This will be supported by improvements in workforce data collection, career development support and research training opportunities. Stakeholders will work collectively to deliver the recommendations, with progress overseen by a dedicated taskforce and reviewed by OSCHR over the next five years.
Progress in oral health is stalling
Oral health diseases are becoming more prevalent, with recent data showing a resurgence in largely preventable tooth decay. Longstanding inequalities persist across communities and oral health outcomes are closely linked to deprivation, ethnicity and geography. Poor oral health is also contributing to over 15 million lost school days among children each year. The UK’s capacity to respond to these challenges depends upon reversing the decline in the dental clinical academic workforce. Strong research capacity is critical to identifying effective prevention strategies, improving service delivery and ensuring future care is sustainable. The decline is also impacting the pipeline of educators, which threatens the ability to recruit and train more dental students.
Key findings
- The number of dental clinical academics has fallen from 435 full-time equivalent (FTE) posts in 2005 to 360 in 2025 (75 fewer).
- The workforce is ageing, with more than twice as many clinical academics aged over 55 as those aged under 36 (12%).
- The report identifies several barriers to entering clinical academia, including increasing service and financial pressures across higher education and health systems, insecure early-career posts and difficulties accessing research opportunities early in professional training.
- Dental care professionals (DCPs) and dentists working in primary care settings remain significantly underrepresented in dental research despite making up the majority of the oral health workforce, with barriers including limited role models and a lack of well-designed relevant research posts.
Recommendations
To address these challenges, the report sets out a coordinated UK-wide action plan focused on three priorities:
- Creating more flexible and accessible clinical academic career pathways
- Strengthening leadership and mentoring for emerging researchers
- Improving employment conditions and pay parity for clinical academics
Emphasis is placed on widening opportunities for general dental practitioners and dental care professionals, including dental hygienists, dental therapists and dental nurses.
