The statement highlights a dire issue within the UK’s NHS dental system, specifically the failure of the government’s recent funding initiative to provide adequate emergency and preventive care. In this article, and as a response to the recent government statement highlighted yesterday by the BDA, I seek to offer a critique of the approach, noting the shortcomings and the broader implications for public health.
The government’s pledge to provide 700,000 urgent dental appointments is wholly inadequate in the face of the 2.2 million patients currently unable to access treatment, addressing only a fraction of those in need. By its own estimates, the initiative will leave 1.5 million people untreated, an omission that underscores a fundamental failure in the allocation of healthcare resources. If the aim was to address the immediate crisis in dental care, the proposal falls dramatically short.
Furthermore, focusing only on urgent care rather than preventative or routine treatments ensures that untreated conditions will escalate into emergencies. This short-sighted strategy guarantees a perpetual cycle of dental crises, placing further strain on an already overstretched NHS.
The comparison of NHS dental services to Victorian-era standards is not mere hyperbole. Reports of patients resorting to self-extraction due to a lack of access to professional care are a stark indicator of systemic neglect. Such situations—once thought to be relegated to history—are now disturbingly common, particularly in deprived areas, revealing a profound healthcare inequality within the UK. This is a regressive failure.
While the government’s initiative targets “dental deserts”, this reactive approach does little to address the structural causes of the crisis. The fact that six in ten children suffer from tooth decay by age five—disproportionately affecting those in poorer regions—demonstrates that emergency interventions do not compensate for the absence of sustained, preventive dental services.
By comparison, many civilised nations (such as Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden) provide universal access to dental care, ensuring that routine check-ups and early treatment prevent conditions from worsening. In contrast, the UK’s two-tiered system, where those unable to afford private care are left with minimal NHS access, fails even the most basic public health benchmarks.
A system that only intervenes at the point of crisis is inherently more expensive and less effective than one built on early intervention and prevention. Which is fundamentally a poor economic decision with long-term consequences. In essence, this policy creates more “urgent” cases by neglecting routine care, ensuring an increasing burden on NHS services in the future.
Without access to regular check-ups, simple conditions—such as minor cavities or early gum disease—progress into severe infections, requiring costly emergency procedures. This reactive approach leads to:
- Higher costs for the NHS, as emergency care is far more expensive than preventive treatment.
- Greater patient suffering, as untreated conditions escalate into painful, debilitating issues.
- Lost productivity, as untreated dental issues result in more missed work and school days.
By failing to fund comprehensive dental care, the government is not just neglecting the present but actively sowing the seeds of future public health crises.
This initiative appears to be a political sticking plaster instead of a sustainable solution. A political manoeuvre designed to offer a headline-grabbing announcement rather than a genuine solution. The government’s health manifesto may include these extra appointments as a commitment to improving services, but the reality is that it merely papers over the cracks of a crumbling NHS dental system.
A truly effective solution would require:
- Restoring NHS dental contracts to make providing care financially viable for dentists, rather than forcing them into private practice.
- Universal access to preventive care, particularly for children, to reduce long-term costs.
- Investment in dental education and recruitment to address the workforce shortages in NHS dentistry.
Instead, the government’s current plan simply manages the crisis rather than solving it, ensuring that the next health emergency is just around the corner.
This is a system on the brink of collapse. The government’s initiative to increase emergency dental appointments is too little, too late. By failing to provide universal preventive care, the UK has regressed to a standard of dental provision more akin to the 19th century than the 21st. The result is widening health inequality, unnecessary suffering, and an ever-growing backlog of patients needing urgent care. Without significant reform and increased funding, NHS dentistry will continue to deteriorate, leaving millions without even the most basic care.
If the UK is to align itself with other developed nations, it must recognise that dental health is not a luxury—it is a fundamental aspect of public health that requires sustained, systemic investment.
Dr Julian Pery
