The party said the plan would mean around a quarter increase in funding on the NHS dentistry budget in England. It said this would help reform the NHS contract to encourage more dentists to take on NHS work.
It comes as analysis reveals the number of dentists leaving the NHS in England has risen by a third in the past four years while worrying numbers are nearing retirement age.
The House of Commons Library research shows that over 2,000 dentists left the NHS in 2022/23, up from 1,516 in 2018/19. A further 3,532 dentists are nearing retirement age in England, over one in seven (14.6 per cent) of the total dentists in the country.
The Liberal Democrats have warned that urgent action is needed to stop the exodus of dentists from the NHS, with almost three in 10 NHS dentists nearing retirement age in some areas. In North Lincolnshire 29 per cent of NHS dentists are aged 55 and over, in North East Lincolnshire it is 27 per cent, Norfolk and Waveney 24 per cent, East Sussex 22 per cent and in Dorset it is 20 per cent.
The Liberal Democrats are calling for urgent reforms to the dental contract to deliver more NHS dentist appointments and free check-ups for children. The party’s plan, backed by funding of £750m a year by the end of the Parliament, would guarantee access to an NHS dentist for everyone needing urgent and emergency care by:
- Bringing dentists back to the NHS from the private sector by fixing the broken NHS dental contract and using flexible commissioning to meet patient needs.
- Introducing an emergency scheme to guarantee access to free NHS dental check-ups for those already eligible: children, new mothers, those who are pregnant and those on low incomes.
Ed Davey, Liberal Democrat Leader, said, “Across the country, millions of people are going without basic dental care, with many even turning to pulling their own teeth out due to the lack of services. It is an utterly appalling situation that has to be brought to an end.
“The Conservative government has pushed dentistry to the brink, and it is children and parents who are paying the price of their neglect.
“Years of this Conservative government kicking the can down the road is creating an exodus of dentists from the NHS.
“The Liberal Democrats have an ambitious plan to fix the dental contract and tackle the crisis in dental care.”