Dentists to get cash incentives for NHS patients

The government is preparing to offer dentists cash incentives to take on extra NHS patients, and send teams to schools to treat children's teeth.

Under a plan to boost services in England seen by the BBC, dentists will receive a "bonus" to take on more NHS patients.

Up to 240 dentists will also be offered £20,000 to work for three years in under-served areas.

There will also be a scheme to tackle dental decay among young children.

Ministers are preparing to unveil details of the "dental recovery plan" on Wednesday.

But the health department inadvertently sent details to MPs of all parties earlier. The email was then passed on to the BBC.

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It is unclear if the contents of the email will precisely match Wednesday's announcement, although it is marked with tomorrow's date.

The email touts a £200m investment in dentistry, including dentists being "supported to take on new NHS patients" through a "bonus" scheme.

There will be "golden hello" cash incentives for dentists to work in areas which are under-served, with 240 offered £20,000 later this year to work in parts of England with the fewest dentists.

Under what is termed the "smile for life" initiative, children of reception age will be encouraged to combat dental decay from an early age, with a specific programme for nurseries.

Mobile dental teams will travel to schools in so-called dental deserts, providing fluoride varnish treatments to more than 165,000 children.

It comes after Labour announced their own policy of supervised tooth-brushing for three to five year olds.

The party has also previously said it would offer incentives for new dentists to work in areas with the greatest need.

The state of NHS dentistry has been thrust into the spotlight with hundreds of people queuing outside a new dental practice in Bristol to register as NHS patients this week.

A BBC investigation in 2022 found nine in 10 NHS dental practices across the UK were not accepting new adult patients for treatment on the NHS.

It found the lack of NHS appointments had led people to drive hundreds of miles in search of treatment, pull out their own teeth without anaesthesia, or resort to making their own improvised dentures.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting told the BBC: "After 14 years of Conservative neglect, patients are desperately queuing around the block to see a dentist, literally pulling their own teeth out, and tooth decay is the number one reason for 6-10 year-olds being admitted to hospital.

"The Conservatives are only promising to do something about it now there's an election coming. By adopting Labour's proposals for recruitment and supervised toothbrushing, they are finally admitting that they are out of ideas of their own."

Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Daisy Cooper said: "This plan comes too little too late for those left waiting in pain for dental care or the children admitted to hospital for tooth decay."

The DHSC has been approached for comment.