The British Dental Association has applauded moves by Government to finally assess the true cost of delivering NHS dentistry, stressing that the data is essential to underpin pledged reforms to save the service.
The Department of Health has launched the cost-of-service exercise, and the BDA is actively encouraging practices to take part in this confidential study and to help win the argument for fair funding.
Earlier this year the professional body warned the Public Accounts Committee that the Treasury has become reliant on practices delivering care at a loss. This has fed into a decade of austerity funding, which has fuelled the exodus of dentists out of the NHS.
The BDA estimates a typical practice loses over £40 delivering a set of NHS dentures, and over £7 on a simple new patient exam.
Responses are open until noon on 16 June 2025.The BDA supports the Department of Health and Social Care’s stated objective to gain a well-informed, comprehensive and nuanced understanding of how to support the dental sector in England. Officials will publish the analysis from the research publicly on GOV.UK following the conclusion of this project.
The BDA has stressed that the Treasury must be ready to act on the results of this research, and that the coming Spending Review will determine the future of the service.
Official data estimates unmet need for NHS dentistry at over 13 million, or 1 in 4 of England’s adult population. Recent polling has suggested that among those who could not get an NHS dental appointment, more than a quarter (26%) treated themselves, while 19% went abroad for treatment.
Shiv Pabary, Chair of the British Dental Association’s General Dental Practice Committee, said: “This is an important move from the Government. Saving NHS dentistry will be impossible without a clear sense of what it costs to keep this service afloat. Austerity left practices delivering care at a loss. No business can operate like this. Dentists can spell out the facts, but the Treasury will need to act on them.”
Instructions
To complete the survey, please:
- Download the Excel spreadsheet from Find a Tender Service here:
- Read the instructions in the document carefully and complete the spreadsheet. We understand it may take some time to complete, but may require less if you have access to the information required from your dental practice management system and practice accounts.
- Once finished, please upload the spreadsheet to the Dropbox here:
- All responses should represent information at the practice level. If you are part of a corporate group, you can choose to complete the survey locally as a practice or send it on to HQ to be completed centrally. A separate response will need to be submitted for each practice responding; please ensure that duplicate submissions are not made for the same practice.
Informational webinars
The Department of Health and Social Care are holding several webinars to explain the project and survey and answer any questions. If you wish to attend, please register below:
- 22 May,11:00-11:45 Informational webinar (including purpose of the exercise, how to complete the survey, Q&A). (Register)
- 29 May,14:30-15:15Informational webinar (including purpose of the exercise, how to complete the survey, Q&A) (Register)
- 4 June,11:00-11:45Drop-in session for questions on the survey (no presentations) (Register)
- 12 June,14:30-15:15 Drop-in session for questions on the survey (no presentations) (Register)
