Dental schools welcome boost in dentistry places in England

Dental schools welcome the Government’s announcement of 50 additional dentistry training places in England as a positive step towards addressing the ongoing challenges in access to NHS oral healthcare. Increasing training capacity is an important part of strengthening the future dental workforce and ensuring that more patients can access the care they need.

Dental schools are ready to support this expansion. Across the UK, schools are already delivering high-quality education through innovative teaching approaches and advanced clinical training environments. Increasing student numbers will also allow more patients to receive care as part of supervised clinical training, expanding the trainee workforce that provides treatment in dental hospitals, outreach clinics and community settings while students develop their clinical skills.

It is important that increases in training places are accompanied by appropriate capital funding and investment in postgraduate training resources to ensure dental trainees are fully supported and able to contribute effectively to NHS dentistry. A coordinated approach that assesses geographical need and aligns training capacity with local demand will help encourage increases in student numbers to translate into real improvements in patient access and support the long-term sustainability of the dental workforce.

Dr Katie Petty-Saphon, Chief Executive of the Dental Schools Council said,

“We are pleased that the Government has recognised the urgent need to grow the dental workforce at a time when access to NHS oral healthcare remains a significant challenge for many patients. Each year, dental schools are forced to turn away talented applicants who show great potential and this increase will allow more future NHS dentists to be admitted. Dental schools look forward to working with the Government to support this expansion, ensuring recruitment follows best practice in widening participation while training NHS-ready dentists and addressing geographical gaps in access to care.”

Read the full DHSC press release: More dentists coming as government boosts number who can practise