Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential impact of increases in NHS dental charges in April 2023 on patients on low incomes who are not eligible for free dentistry.

We have frozen dental patient charges since 2020 whilst other similar charges such as for National Health Service prescriptions have increased. This is despite rising inflation and increases in costs of delivering NHS care. The uplift of NHS dental charges by 8.5% from 24 April 2023 will raise important revenue for pressurised NHS budgets and NHS dental services following COVID-19 restrictions and we consider it to be a proportionate rise as it remains below the Consumer Prices Index which rose by 17.9% since December 2020 and represents a £2 increase for a Band One course of treatment.

The qualifying criteria for the range of exemptions to NHS dental charges and support through the low-income scheme remain unchanged. Just under half of NHS dental patients were treated free of charge in the 2021/22 financial year.

We are expecting to increase NHS dental charges further from April 2024, with decisions on the level to be determined nearer the time.