UK government broadens scope of extra NHS dental slots

Last year, the government pledged to deliver an additional 700,000 urgent dental appointments annually by incentivising dentists to take on more publicly funded treatments. A government press release shows that close to one million appointments were delivered in line with this commitment over just seven months in 2025 and that the total number of additional NHS treatments delivered during that period was 1.8 million.

Based on advice from Chief Dental Officer for England Dr Jason Wong, MBE, all NHS dental appointments now qualify for the incentive boost. Dr Wong said: “Widening access to include other oral healthcare beyond urgent care means more patients will be seen quickly and get the care they need before problems escalate.” He added: “By working closely with government and the dental sector to bring in these changes, we are delivering on the manifesto commitment to make prevention a priority and help people maintain good oral health.”

Neil Carmichael, executive chair of the Association of Dental Groups, the UK trade body, welcomed the clarification. He urged integrated care boards to act quickly to commission additional capacity.

This recategorisation, along with reforms to the dental contract, is expected to result in millions of additional appointments this year, primarily benefiting children and those with the greatest oral health needs, and aim to reduce the risk of disease progression. However, years of deficits in NHS oral care have left health services on the back foot. For example, as reported by the BBC, dentists are concerned that NHS patients presenting with signs of head and neck cancers could have been diagnosed earlier during routine dental screenings.

Health system leaders have welcomed the reported increase in access as an important step towards enabling earlier intervention and reducing the escalation of oral disease. However, stakeholders have emphasised that further structural reform is required to address long-term pressures on NHS dental services, pointing to the need for contract reform and care pathways that prioritise prevention and sustainable service delivery.

Dr Shiv Pabary, MBE, chair of the British Dental Association’s General Dental Practice Committee, stressed: “Millions are still going without care. After years of savage cuts, ending this crisis will hinge on promised reform being backed by sustainable funding.” He said: “The government must build on this progress with urgency and ambition. To give NHS dentistry a future, we need a response proportionate to the challenges we face.”

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