People are pulling their own teeth out — Labour must urgently fix NHS dentistry

The NHS is unquestionably the Labour Party’s greatest achievement. It is often said Labour succeeded in establishing the NHS as the UK’s unofficial state religion. it is second nature to hear politicians and the public preach how its creation has made our country fairer and healthier.

Yet how often is dentistry central to that conversation? Too often it has been overlooked, and today patients are suffering.

The fact that the NHS’s founding father, Nye Bevan, resigned from government over the introduction of dental charges, is perhaps emblematic of the complicated history between the dental system and an NHS, free at the point of use. Today, MPs will debate reforms to NHS dentistry  but in constituencies like mine in County Durham services have decayed so severely they require reconstruction.  

People are resorting to Victorian DIY dentistry

It is increasingly difficult to square the current state of dental services with the guiding principles central to the NHS: that it meets the needs of everyone, based on clinical need, not ability to pay.

While in England dentistry remains available on the NHS on paper, in practice, appointments are virtually impossible to find. Those unable to afford private treatment are resorting to the Victorian practice of DIY dentistry. I’ve been contacted by eight constituents this week who have extracted their own teeth or made use of a home tooth repair kit from Amazon. 

Dentists are closing their practice doors to NHS patients- not because of a lack of demand, but because an unreformed dental contract means dentists are pushed into the private sector to keep their practice financially afloat. Worryingly, British Dental Association (BDA) surveys suggest for every dentist leaving the NHS, ten are also reducing the amount of NHS work they do. 

Despite the UK spending the lowest share of its health budget on dentistry of any comparable European nation, the dental system is now so dysfunctional that this year practices handed back a record £400m funding to Government because they do not have the capacity to meet the required targets. Can it be any surprise tooth decay is now the most common reason for hospital admission in young children?

After 13 years of inaction, it’s unlikely the Conservatives will fix this mess- the 2019 NHS Long Term Plan made only one reference to dentistry. Integrated Care Boards have been established but don’t include dentists. Ministers appear content to rearrange the deck chairs on a sinking service. 

It will fall to Labour to front up and fix dentistry- but we cannot just prop up a collapsing system, we must rebuild it entirely, with prevention at its core. 

Labour cannot wait to stop the rot

Tackling unequal access to dentistry is a matter of social justice. The BDA describe “tooth decay and deprivation as going hand in hand”. So, it’s welcome that when establishing the Labour Party’s ‘national missions’, Keir Starmer committed to tackling the UK’s staggering health inequalities, the next step is to establish how a prevention focused NHS tackles this issue.

In 1948, Labour recognised it was vital to integrate dentistry within the NHS- That oral health was not an optional luxury, but integral to our national health and therefore key to the National Health Service. How we tackle it must therefore be a priority not an afterthought.

The next Labour Government cannot first indulge in a long-term review. Instead, it should work with dentists to present a package of immediate reforms to the NHS dental contract that will stem the flow of dentists out of the NHS and encourage dentists back.

If Labour is to abandon sticking plaster solutions, we should also commit to publish a comprehensive National Dental Strategy during a first Labour term. To establish where dentistry fits within a modern NHS, with prevention and a laser focus on tackling health inequalities at its heart. This should seriously consider the merit of restoring free dental check-ups. Making treatment accessible, and affordable will stem the pressure on the NHS elsewhere, preventing costly dental decay from reaching A&E departments. 

The Conservatives have ignored NHS dentistry for thirteen years and patients have suffered. History shows us that when the British people elect a Labour Government, they do so with the expectation that as the party of the NHS, we are uniquely placed to resuscitate and renew it. 

Labour must be ready to stop the rot in NHS dentistry.