Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of dental school capacity on long-term access to NHS dentistry.

We are 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.

To achieve these aims, we will work with partners such as the General Dental Council to explore the creation of new dental schools as necessary in currently under-served parts of the country, as well as with the Office for Students, which has statutory responsibility for allocating Government funded dental school places.

We have also launched a 10-Year Health Plan as part of Government’s five long-term missions, a central part of which will be our workforce. We will publish a refreshed workforce plan to ensure the NHS has the right people, in the right places, with the right skills to deliver the care patients need when they need it.

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.