BDA: UK governments need to invest more in oral health

The British Dental Association (BDA) has urged the governments of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to address recent declines in oral health investment.

New data from the Health and Social Care Information Centre has shown that incomes for practice owners in England and Wales have fallen by 21 percent in real terms since 2008, with associates experiencing a 19.6 percent drop.

Associates in Northern Ireland and Scotland have also seen their earnings decrease by more than 27 percent in the same period, the BDA has taken lawmakers to task for their continued failure to spend money to improve oral health.

Representatives from each of the organisation's regional committees have pointed out that dentists have been doing more with less for years, with the task of offering high-quality care becoming more difficult as budgets have fallen and red tape has become more of an issue.

Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen, chair of the BDA's General Dental Practice Committee, said: "Patients inevitably suffer when our profession is left incapable of investing in new equipment, and facing down a burgeoning crisis of morale."