A surge in the number of dentists practicing in the UK is observed, raising concerns about potential difficulties for patients seeking dental check-ups.
The British Dental Association (BDA) has emphasized that an increase in foreign-trained dentists will not address the UK’s oral health crisis comprehensively as the government’s funding for NHS treatment only covers half of the population.
Numerous dental practices in England are no longer accepting new adult NHS patients, leading to a rise in DIY dentistry practices where individuals experiencing pain resort to extracting their own teeth, as reported by The Mirror.
The Mirror’s Dentists for All campaign sheds light on the issue, coinciding with recent data from the General Dental Council showing a 3.4% rise in the number of registered dentists in the UK to 48,000 as of December 2025.
While the UK government has facilitated the entry of foreign-trained dentists into the country, surpassing the number of locally trained dentists joining the workforce last year, the BDA cautions that the core issue lies in the lack of adequate funding, pushing dentists towards prioritizing private patients over NHS work.
Eddie Crouch, chair of the BDA, highlighted that the challenge isn’t the shortage of dentists but rather the diminishing prospects within an underfunded system, urging the government to address the root funding issues.
The stagnant NHS dental budget, standing at around £3 billion for over a decade, fails to keep pace with inflation and population growth, resulting in treatment coverage for only half of England’s populace. This equates to a real terms reduction of around £1 billion, an unprecedented cut within the NHS.
Between 2010 and 2024, the proportion of the NHS budget allocated to dentistry plummeted from 3.3% to merely 1.5%, significantly impacting the accessibility and quality of dental services in England compared to other UK regions.
The BDA estimates that an additional £1.5 billion investment is required to revive a fully inclusive NHS dental service in England, aligning with the total NHS budget exceeding £200 billion.
Efforts by the government to streamline the entry of foreign-trained dentists into the NHS through expanded registration exam capacity and a new provisional registration pathway have been noted, yet the prevailing issue of the flawed NHS dental contract remains a critical concern.
Health Secretary Wes Streeting has pledged contract reforms, albeit the BDA argues that without increased funding, these changes would only amount to superficial modifications in a broken system.
Recent announcements include the provision of additional urgent dental appointments for patients in immediate dental distress. However, concerns have been raised that this initiative could lead to patients requiring routine maintenance care being sidelined by dental practices.
Eddie Crouch, addressing a parliamentary event hosted by The Mirror, expressed the need for new investments to accommodate all patients effectively within the dental care system, emphasizing the limitations posed by existing resource constraints.
Last month, dentists converged on Westminster urging for enhanced funding support, with 1,300 practitioners signing an open letter to Prime Minister Keir Starmer, delivered to Downing Street.