More than 100,000 concerned citizens have signed a Mirror petition demanding the Government reverses a decade of Conservative cuts that have left millions unable to access NHS dental care.
The Growing Dental Health Emergency
The Mirror's Dentists for All campaign has exposed how the current £3 billion funding for dentistry in England only covers dental care for approximately half the population. This has resulted in 112,000 people supporting the "Fund NHS dentistry NOW" petition, which will be formally presented to the Government on Wednesday.
Britain's escalating oral health crisis means that a staggering quarter of the adult population - equivalent to 14 million people across England - are living with what experts term "unmet need" for dental treatment.
Funding Disparities and Desperate Measures
Analysis reveals that Westminster allocates nearly half the funding per person for dental services compared to other UK nations. After a decade of what campaigners describe as "Tory stealth cuts," some individuals have been driven to such desperation that they're attempting to extract their own teeth.
Eddie Crouch, Chair of the British Dental Association, stated: "The public understand that providing access to care hinges on sustainable funding. If Ministers don't reverse a generation of savage cuts then millions will remain locked out of NHS dentistry."
The total budget for NHS dentistry in England has remained frozen at approximately £3 billion since 2010, failing to account for inflation or population growth. The British Dental Association calculates this represents a real-terms budget reduction exceeding one third.
Contract Flaws and Private Sector Exodus
Plans are progressing to reform what dental professionals describe as the "flawed" NHS dental payment contract, which currently forces dentists to operate at a loss when treating patients requiring complex care. The system pays dentists identically whether a patient needs three fillings or twenty.
This unsustainable model has triggered a mass departure of NHS dentists to private practice, resulting in most dental practices refusing to accept new NHS patients. However, meaningful contract reform remains dependent on adequate funding being allocated.
Matthew McGregor, Chief Executive of campaign group 38 Degrees, which partnered with the Mirror on the petition, emphasised: "The fact that 112,000 people and counting have now joined the campaign to demand proper funding for NHS dentistry says it all. Reforms, promises and ambitions are one thing but, unless the Government puts its money where its mouth is, millions of people across the UK will continue going without affordable and accessible dental care."
Chancellor Rachel Reeves will announce her Autumn Budget on November 26, when government departments will learn their funding allocations. The Mirror launched the Dentists for All campaign in January 2024 after evidence showed that ten years of Conservative cuts had precipitated a near-total collapse in dental access.
Statistical comparisons reveal stark funding inequalities across the UK. During the 2022/23 financial year, government expenditure on NHS dentistry per person stood at £38 in England, compared to £57 in Wales, £59 in Northern Ireland and £73 in Scotland. Alarmingly, the UK now has the lowest dentist-to-population ratio of any G7 nation.
Dentistry's share of the NHS budget for England has plummeted from 3.3% in 2010 to just 1.5% today. While Labour has committed to increasing primary care funding, no specific uplift has been promised for dental services, despite testimony from dentistry minister Stephen Kinnock suggesting the Treasury is resisting funding radical reform.
