Labour pledges an extra 100,000 dental appointments for children

Labour is promising an extra 100,000 urgent and emergency dental appointments for children as part of its Child Health Action Plan.

The party is also pledging to bring in supervised toothbrushing for three to five-year-olds in a drive to improve the state of children’s dental services.

This dental rescue plan is expected to cost £109 million a year – which Labour claims will be paid for by clamping down on tax dodgers and non-doms.

READ MORE: Labour declines to rule out capital gains tax hikes as Lib Dems vow reform

Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said: “What a tragic indictment on the state of NHS dentistry under the Conservatives, that children are ashamed to speak because of the state of their teeth.

“Labour will provide an extra 100,000 appointments for children a year and supervised toothbrushing for three-to-five year olds, to put a smile back on kids’ faces.”

The party cited data claiming 540,000 fewer children seeing a dentist last year compared to 2018 – and that hundreds of thousands of children are on NHS waiting lists for paediatric care.

It is also pledging to offer golden hellos to recruit dentists to underserved areas.

Labour’s full policy platform for the general election is set to be revealed at its manifesto launch on Thursday of this week.

Read more of our 2024 general election coverage here.

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