Government now profiting from NHS charges at hundreds of dental practices

As 5 per cent increases kick in for the third consecutive year, charge levels for patients now exceed the price dentists are paid to provide services at over 300 practices. Based on current contracts the BDA estimates the government will generate over £40 million in profits by the time of the next general election from an ever growing number of NHS practices. A quarter of all NHS dental practices are on track to charge patients more than government pays dentists to provide care by 2022.

At just 68 NHS practices (1 per cent of the total) BDA analysis shows that government is now paying the lion’s share (more than half) of NHS treatment costs for charge paying patients.

These charges do not go to dentists, and are passed to NHS England. Revenue from patients is now increasing as a proportion of the overall dental budget, while contributions from general taxation are in long-term decline. As charges have been rising at an inflation-busting pace, payments to dentists to provide services have increased by an average of just 1 per cent per year since 2010.