The organisation has also emphasised the importance of child oral health, support for the dental workforce and GDC reform, to ensure dentistry is not an afterthought.
The recommendations are outlined in Dental Protection’s submission to the government’s Change NHS consultation, which is being undertaken as part of the development of the 10-Year Health Plan.
Raj Rattan, Dental Protection’s dental director, said, “The government’s forthcoming 10-year plan for the NHS must speak to the critical issues currently impacting dental professionals and patients.
“There are a number of long overdue reforms that would significantly improve the delivery of dental care and the patient experience. Access to NHS dentistry must surely be a high priority. On a societal level, it is clear that there is a gap between the public health ideals in the UK and actual service provision. In a country that aspires to provide a state health service based on need, the government has a moral and ethical obligation to assure and ensure a reasonable array of public health and other necessary interventions.”
In its consultation response, Dental Protection has said access to NHS dentistry across the country must be tackled as a priority. Data from June 2023 reveals that just 41 per cent of adults had seen an NHS dentist in the last two years and more than a quarter of pensioners fear they will have to carry out their own dentistry. It has also urged the government to progress GDC reform.
In a 2023 Dental Protection survey of 125 dental professionals who had been investigated by the dental regulator, 82 per cent said the process had a detrimental impact on their mental health, with the length of the investigation being one of the factors that had the most significant impact on members.
Raj added, “We also need to see a firm commitment to improving dental regulation. The GDC have recently made some improvements aimed at speeding up their processes and reducing the impact on those being investigated. While the GDC need to continue this work they also need the government to now deliver on long-overdue reforms to their legislation so they can further increase their focus on conducting investigations more swiftly.”