The British Dental Association has responded to the latest official figures, showing the struggling service has yet to return to pre-pandemic levels.
In 2018/19 over 39.7m courses of NHS treatment were delivered, figures published in today’s NHS Dental Statistics show the figure is 37.6m, still under 95% of pre-COVID norms. The BDA has stressed that while other NHS primary and secondary care services have ‘bounced back’, dentistry faces systemic barriers that mean there will simply never be the capacity to meet demand without a wholesale change in tack from Ministers.
Just 60.1% of children were seen in the last year, and just 40.2% of adults in the last two years, timings which reflect recommended recall intervals, and which represent very modest gains on last year.
BDA analysis of official data published earlier this summer indicates that unmet need for NHS dentistry in 2025/26 stood at well over 13 million, or over 1 in 4 of England’s adult population. The professional body stress that even pre-pandemic, access problems were the norm. For the decade prior to 2019/20, levels stood consistently at over 4 million. [1]
The professional body has long warned of widening inequality of both access and outcomes. The last Adult Oral Health Survey showed levels of tooth decay among adults in England are now similar to those last seen more than 25 years ago. The latest Oral Health Survey of 5 year old children showed decades of progress on closing the gap between rich and the poor had stalled.
Data lands just days after new analysis from the Nuffield Trust showing one in ten dental practices in England have abandoned their NHS contracts since March 2017. [2]
The Government has yet to take forward its pledge to deliver fundamental reform of the discredited NHS contract fuelling this crisis. A public consultation, pledged to take place this summer, has yet to materialise. To date, the Government has not committed a penny of new investment to the rebuild of the service. Recent polling by Survation for the BDA’s campaign partners 38 Degrees found 68% of the public support fixing NHS dentistry through increased funding, with just 10% opposed.[3]
BDA Chair Eddie Crouch said:
“What these figures show is NHS dentistry has not bounced back. Even before COVID struck, underfunding and failed contracts meant in ‘normal’ times this service was beset by access problems, with millions unable to access basic care. This is a reminder of just how far off from ‘normal’ we remain. It’s for Government to choose if they actually want better for patients.”
