Dentist dossier: Five Conservative failures on dental care

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

Liberal Democrats have published a dentist dossier with five failures from the Government on dental care:

1. Children not being seen by NHS dentists: Over 4.4 million children in England have not been seen by an NHS dentist for at least a year, shocking figures from the House of Commons Library show.

2. Ministers' constituents are suffering: In Health Secretary Victoria Atkins local areas of Lincolnshire, over 65,629 children or almost half had not been seen by an NHS dentist in the last year. 134,448 children haven’t been seen by an NHS dentist in the past year in Rishi Sunak’s local North Yorkshire and Humber region.

3. DIY Dentistry: A poll commissioned by the Liberal Democrats revealed a staggering one in five (21%) people who failed to get an NHS dentist appointment turned to DIY dentistry.

4. Dental deserts: Over six in ten local areas in England have seen a rise in the number of people per dentist since 2019, an analysis commissioned by the Liberal Democrats from the House of Commons Library shows.

5. Funding crisis: The Government’s plan to increase the budget by £200m is only half of the underspend on the NHS dentistry budget last year of £400m. 

Commenting Liberal Democrat Health spokesperson Daisy Cooper MP said:

“People with excruciating tooth pain have seen their dental services collapse into a black hole but the government’s announcement is nothing more than a drop in the ocean. 

“Too little too late does not even begin to describe what the government has proposed. Millions have suffered, some even resorting to pulling their teeth out, as the Government failed to get a grip on this crisis.

“People are literally sick to their back teeth of the Government’s record of misery. The government should be ashamed that these half-baked plans simply do not go to the heart of the problem.”

ENDS

Notes to Editor:

The Liberal Democrats are calling for a dental healthcare rescue plan including spending the estimated £400 million of funding for NHS dental services that went unspent this year to boost the number of appointments. The party is also calling for reforms to guarantee access to an NHS dentist for everyone needing urgent and emergency care, ending DIY dentistry and “dental deserts”, additional resources for mobile dental units to visit schools, community centres and care homes, and the removal of VAT on children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste.