The Minister for Care (Stephen Kinnock)
The Government ambition is to make sure that everyone who needs a dentist can get one. On Friday 21 February 2025, we launched the roll-out of the extra 700,000 urgent dental appointments promised by the Government in their election manifesto. Integrated care boards have been asked to start making these extra appointments available from April 2025, and they will be available to NHS patients experiencing painful oral health issues, such as infections, abscesses, or cracked or broken teeth. Appointments will be available across the country, with specific targets for each region. These targets are more heavily weighted towards those areas where extra appointments are needed the most.
Through the golden hello scheme, integrated care boards are supporting practices across England in recruiting NHS dentists to posts that they have previously struggled to fill. This recruitment incentive will see up to 240 dentists receiving payments of £20,000 to work in those areas that need them most for three years. As of 10 February 2025, in England, 35 dentists have commenced in post and a further 33 dentists have been recruited but are yet to start in post. A further 249 posts are currently advertised.
To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contract with the sector, with a shift to focusing on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists. On 7 March 2025, we announced investment of £11.4 million to implement the manifesto commitment of a national, targeted supervised toothbrushing scheme for 3 to 5-year-olds. The investment will be focused on around 505,000 children living in the 20% most deprived communities across England. Following public consultation, we also announced the expansion of community water fluoridation across the north-east of England, reaching an additional 1.6 million people. At the same time, we will not wait to make improvements to the current system where these can increase access and incentivise the workforce to deliver more NHS care. We are continuing to meet the British Dental Association and other representatives of the dental sector to discuss how we can best deliver our shared ambition to improve access for NHS dental patients.
We have launched a 10-year health plan to reform the NHS. A central and core part of the 10-year health plan will be our workforce and how we ensure we train and provide the staff the NHS needs to care for patients across our communities. We have taken necessary decisions to fix the foundations of the public finances at autumn budget. This enabled the spending review settlement of £22.6 billion extra investment in resource spending for the Department of Health and Social Care from 2023-24 out-turn to 2025-26.
On 10 March 2025, the National Health Service (Dental Charges) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 were laid before Parliament to increase national health service dental patient charges in England in line with inflation from 1 April 2025.
NHS dental patient charges provide an important revenue source for NHS dentistry and are typically uplifted on 1 April each financial year. The charges will be uplifted by 2.39% in 2025-26, aligning with the forecast GDP deflator value. Dental patients will benefit from the continued provision that this important revenue supports.
From 1 April 2025, the dental charge payable for a band 1 course of treatment will rise by £0.60, from £26.80 to £27.40. For a band 2 course of treatment, there will be an increase of £1.80 from £73.50 to £75.30. A band 3 course of treatment will increase by £7.60 from £319.10 to £326.70.
Details of the revised charges for 2025-26 can be found in the table below:
Band Description | From April 2025 (Proposed) |
1: This band includes examination, diagnosis (including radiographs), advice on how to prevent future problems, scale and polish if clinically needed, and £27.40 preventative care (eg applications of fluoride varnish or fissure sealant) | £27.40 |
2: This band covers everything listed in band 1, plus any further treatment such as £75 fillings, root canal work or extractions | £75.40 |
3: This band covers everything in bands 1 and 2, plus course of treatment including crowns, dentures, bridges and other laboratory work | £326.70 |
Urgent: This band covers urgent assessment and specified urgent treatments such as pain relief or a temporary filling or dental appliance repair | £27.40 |
We will continue to provide financial support to those who need it most by offering exemptions to the dental patient charges in a range of circumstances. Patients will continue to be entitled to free NHS dental care if they are under 18, or under 19 and in full-time education; pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months; or are being treated in an NHS hospital and have their treatment carried out by the hospital dentist (patients may have to pay for dentures or bridges). Patients will continue to qualify for help with health costs if, on the date they claim, they either:
receive universal credit and either had no earnings or had take-home pay of £435 or less in their last universal credit assessment period;
receive universal credit, which includes an element for a child, or they or their partner had limited capability for work or limited capability for work and work-related activity, and either had no earnings or take-home pay of £935 or less in their last universal credit assessment period;
If the patient is part of a couple, the take-home pay threshold applies to their combined take-home pay.
Support is also available through the NHS low income scheme for those patients who are not eligible for exemption or full remission.
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