Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential merits of making tuition free for dental students; and what steps he is taking to ensure that dentists receive adequate funding to treat NHS patients.

The Government is determined to rebuild National Health Service dentistry, but it will take time and there are no quick fixes. Strengthening the workforce is key to our ambitions.

The Government will make sure the NHS has the staff it needs to be there for all of us when we need it. We have no plans to make tuition free for dental students. From year five of an undergraduate course, and from year two of a graduate-entry course, dental students can access the NHS Bursary. This is non-repayable and comprises payment for tuition fees and, where eligible, further grants and allowances.

The Government will tackle the immediate crisis with a rescue plan to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit new dentists to the areas that need them most. To rebuild dentistry in the long term, we will reform the dental contact, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists.