Shortage of NHS dentists creating problems across the UK

Mydentist has over 650 practices around the UK and claims there is a national shortage of dentists meaning thousands of patients are unable to see an NHS dentist, and many more face having their planned treatment cancelled at short notice. It claims the recruitment crisis is due to government spending on dental services being reduced by £5 per person.
Tom Riall, CEO at IDH Group, which runs Mydentist, said: “We support over 4m patients each year with the full range of dental treatments and continue to do so across our practices. In a small number of areas however we, like many other dental practices, are struggling to recruit enough dentists. We are doing everything we can to minimise the impact of this and to continue providing high-quality, timely care to all of our patients. Last year, 68% of the UK’s dental practices that tried to recruit struggled to do so, and this problem is only going to get worse unless this issue is addressed. We support the Government’s decision to remove doctors from the tier two visa cap, but urgent action is now needed to ensure other parts of the NHS, including dentistry, can recruit the skilled clinicians they need to support patients. We want to work with the Government and the wider dental sector to ensure this happens.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are committed to supporting dentists and making sure the public can access top quality care, which is why we are trialling a reformed contract, which better supports dentists, and have near record numbers of dentists working in the NHS. NHS England monitors local recruitment closely and we expect them to take appropriate action where any issues are identified.”