The British Dental Association has responded to research in the British Journal of Surgery, that “the dental visit could be an important opportunity for early detection of undiagnosed hyperglycaemia”.
Around 1.3 million people in the UK have undiagnosed type 2 diabetes. The BDA believe there could be significant opportunities with “chairside” screening, but these will only be realised when Government makes a tangible commitment to invest and reform the service, to give it a sustainable future.
Unmet need for NHS dentistry is currently estimated at close to 14 million, or 1 in 4 of England’s adult population. [1] The Government has yet to commit a penny of new investment to support the rebuild and recovery of the service, which in terms of activity remains over 10% behind where it was pre-COVID. [2]
British Dental Association Chair Eddie Crouch said: “Chairside tests for chronic diseases are a golden opportunity for patients, that will remain unrealised until we see real commitment to rebuild this service.
“The Government has worthy ambitions, on shifting from sickness to prevention, from hospital to community. But it needs to value and invest in dentistry to realise them.”
References
[1] BDA analysis of the GP Survey, 2025, by Ipsos, extrapolating data in line with ONS midyear population estimates. Unmet need figures for 2025 were almost unchanged on 2024 levels, at around 13.8m. 5.7m adult patients tried and failed to secure NHS care in the last 2 years – a fall of 700,000 on the previous year’s figures, but with a corresponding surge in the number of people who had effectively given up trying, with the number of people not even attempting to make appointments as they didn’t think they could secure care up by over half a million to 5.9m. The costs of care pushed 1.3 million away, and 880,000 indicated they were on waiting lists, all up on the previous year’s figures. Prior to Covid, levels of unmet need hovered consistently at around 1 in 10 of the adult population.
[2] Courses of NHS treatment delivered by NHS General Dental Services in England ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏ ͏
*Average of 16/17, 17/18, 18/19 (full years with no COVID impact).
