NHS dentistry ‘not fit for purpose’

Centralised targets have made NHS dentistry not fit for purpose, a group of dentists has claimed.

More than 100 family dentists have taken the step of writing to the Telegraph, accusing ministers of hiding the "rotten truth" about the "compromised and mismanaged" state-funded dental system in England. 

According to the group, tooth decay is now the third-most common cause of childhood hospital admissions in the UK and nearly half of all adults now suffer from gum disease. 

"The government and their civil servants continue to promise the public that all the dental clinical health and prevention needs for the population of England are met under the NHS dentistry system, to the highest standards," the correspondence states.

However, the dentists warn it is now "inevitable" that NHS dental services will undergo the same kind of breakdown in care that was found at Stafford Hospital between 2005 and 2009.