NHS dental crisis deepens as Suffolk MPs and campaigners warn of growing harm to patients
A new report shows an increase in people going to A&E as they're struggling to get dentist appointments
A deepening crisis in NHS dentistry is leaving patients in pain and putting pressure on hospitals, according to campaigners and MPs, following the publication of a stark new Healthwatch England report.
The report highlights a sharp rise in dental-related attendances at A&E, with visits up 45% since 2019/20, as people struggle to access urgent NHS dental care.
It also found people living in deprived areas are now 67% more likely to require urgent dental treatment, with care provision varying widely across the country and many patients receiving only temporary measures such as antibiotics or extractions.
"Needless suffering, preventable deaths"
The volunteer-led campaign group Toothless in England described the findings as evidence of a “humanitarian crisis” and called for urgent reform of NHS dentistry.
Mark Jones, campaign co-ordinator for Toothless in England, said:
“Reading this report breaks my heart; it echoes the thousands of stories we’ve heard… This is not just a dental crisis; it’s a betrayal of the NHS promise, causing needless suffering, preventable deaths from sepsis and mouth cancer, and untold damage to mental and physical health.”
He added that government commitments to increase urgent appointments would “ring hollow without real transparency, adequate funding, and root-and-branch reform”.
"We need to properly fund our health services."
Green Party MP for Waveney Valley, Adrian Ramsay, said the situation was forcing more people to turn to private care, while others went without treatment altogether.
He said:
“No one should be having to fork out for that. We need to properly fund our health services.”
Mr Ramsay described parts of Norfolk and Suffolk as a “dental desert” and said he was continuing to press the Government to reform the NHS dental contract to stem what he called an exodus of dentists from the service.
He also highlighted the impact on children, saying:
“The fact that tooth decay is the single biggest reason for children in our country being admitted to hospital is just incredible. We’ve got to stop that.”
Government action
The Government has announced reforms aimed at improving access to urgent dental care, including paying dentists more to see patients with severe pain, infections or dental trauma. Patients needing complex care would also be able to book a single package of treatment rather than multiple appointments, a move the Department of Health and Social Care says could save patients around £225.
Shiv Pabary, chair of the British Dental Association’s general dental practice committee, said the reforms were “the biggest tweaks this failed contract has seen in its history”, but warned they were not enough on their own.
He said:
“We do hope changes can make things easier for practices and patients in the interim, but this cannot be the end of the road.”
A separate report from the think tank Policy Exchange has suggested introducing a universal £150 dental voucher to help end what it describes as a postcode lottery of care. However, the BDA rejected the proposal, warning it could risk “spending more money on less access”.
Rise in tooth decay
Latest figures from the Adult Oral Health Survey show tooth decay among adults in England has risen to levels last seen in the late 1990s, while official data suggests up to six in ten children in some areas have rotting teeth by the age of five.
Campaigners say the Healthwatch report must act as a turning point.
Mr Jones added:
“The people of England deserve an NHS dentist for everyone, before one more life is devastated.”
Government response
A government spokesperson has said, there will be a major boost for millions of NHS dental patients with new changes to get urgent care more easily.
What's coming?
- Overhaul of NHS dentistry will prioritise patients with most urgent dental needs and those requiring complex treatments.
- New incentives for the NHS dental contract to offer longer-term treatments for major issues such as gum disease and tooth decay through the NHS.
- Deep-rooted reforms are fundamental to the government's wider rescue plan for dentistry, including rolling out urgent and emergency care appointments, supervised toothbrushing for 3-5 year olds, and water fluoridation schemes to reduce decay.
- Patients across England will be able to get urgent dentist appointments more easily thanks to a major overhaul of NHS dentistry.
Reforms
The government will proceed with a raft of reforms, the most significant modernisation of the NHS dental contract in years, following a consultation with the sector and the public, published today (December 16, 2025).
By prioritising patients with the greatest needs, the changes, which will be in place from April 2026, will make sure the NHS dentistry budget, estimated at around £4 billion, delivers value for money for the taxpayer by diverting funds into better and more effective treatments for those who need it most.
What does this mean in real terms?
The government explained that if there is a patient who has tooth decay in several teeth or severe gum disease, they would require complex treatment. Currently, they would need to be treated over multiple appointments. For a patient, this is hard to coordinate and book with a dentist, while for a dentist, this would be costly and time-consuming.
With the changes, this patient could secure a single comprehensive package of treatment with a dentist over a longer period, tailored to their needs and including oral health advice. This could save a patient up to £225 in fees. For the dentist, they will be incentivised to deliver this under our new standardised payment package.
This will support thousands of patients to receive better care on the NHS.
Travelling to see a dentist
Previously, we've seen patients struggling to find dental practices that treat people with urgent needs, and as a result, they've had to choose to live with the pain or travel out of their local area to find somewhere that can treat them.
The government say these reforms will make urgent dental care a core part of what NHS dental practices must provide through the new contract, making it easier for people to access an urgent appointment at their local NHS dental practice, saving them from travelling out of their area.
Urgent care may be for issues including severe tooth pain, dental infections, trauma to teeth, or other conditions that need rapid treatment, and dentists will be fairly incentivised to treat these on the NHS.
The sweeping reforms work alongside the government's wider rescue plan for dentistry, including the rollout of urgent and emergency care appointments and community water fluoridation schemes proven to reduce decay.
The government has also rolled out a pioneering national supervised toothbrushing programme for 3–5-year-olds, which will support up to 600,000 children this year, with over 4 million toothbrushes and toothpastes delivered already.