Dental Schools Council response to the NHS dental recovery plan

The Dental Schools Council (DSC) welcomes the new dental plan announced by the government last week, which will tackle some of the long-term issues within oral healthcare provision in England.

It is encouraging that the government has acknowledged the key role education and training will play in futureproofing oral healthcare through expanding the number of dental school places for dentistry and dental hygiene and therapy by 40%. Capacity will be further improved by plans to allow dental hygienists and therapists to work to their full scope of practice.

The plans to reform the contract and recruitment of dental nurses are welcome, however we would like to see this go further with greater recognition and use of the profession as a key asset to the dental team, which will improve the delivery of care. DSC also encourages the increase in oversight of ICB spending to ringfence dentistry funding but would further welcome ringfencing for dentistry education funding to apply to clinical tariff.

Furthermore, we look forward to discussing the possibility of ‘tie-ins’ to the NHS for dentist graduates and encourage liaison with colleagues in devolved nations on this. We note however that both this and the ‘golden hello’ scheme that seeks to incentivise dentists to under-served and deprived areas must first be met with a commitment to ensuring a more sustainable and desirable career pathway in the NHS. Retention issues continue to be related to burnout and renumeration, which must first be addressed in order to ensure these short-term initiatives achieve our joint long-term goal of improving the national oral healthcare system for both staff and patients.

We are encouraged by the government’s latest intentions and commitments laid out in the NHS Dental Recovery Plan and look forward to working with stakeholders to ensure a sustainable workforce, eradicate health inequalities and improve the nation’s oral health.