Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what progress he has made on the provision of 700,000 additional dental appointments; and what his target date is for that provision.

The Government is committed to tackling the challenges for patients trying to access National Health Service dental care 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 contract with the sector, with a shift to focus on prevention and the retention of NHS dentists. We are working to ensure patients can start to access 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments as soon as possible, targeting areas that need them most.