NHS dentistry 'at death's door' says BDA chair

Shawn Charlwood, chair of the British Dental Association General Dental Practice Committee, has warned MPs that NHS dentistry is "at death’s door".

NHS dentists are reportedly feeling ‘chewed up and spat out’. Some 3,000 dentists have moved from NHS to private dentistry in just the last two years and the BDA believes many more will continue to cut ties with the NHS if little changes.

Charlwood told the Health and Social Care Committee:

"In NHS dentistry particularly we are facing a crisis – the likes of which I haven’t seen in my 35 years in the profession. NHS dentists are genuinely struggling to see the light at the end of the tunnel".

A BDA survey of 2,204 high street dentists in England reveals:

Nearly half (45%) report they have reduced their NHS commitment since the onset of the pandemic, by an average of over a quarter.

75% say they are now likely to reduce – or further reduce – their NHS commitment in the next 12 months, the highest level in any BDA surveys since the first lockdown. 45% say they are likely to go fully private. Nearly half (47%) indicate they are likely to change career or seek early retirement.

Two thirds (65%) say their practices have unfilled vacancies for dentists. 82% of those reporting vacancies cite working under the current discredited NHS contract as a key barrier to filling posts, over half (59%) cite issues relating to remuneration levels, and 30% difficulties attracting candidates to remote, rural or deprived communities. 29% say posts have been unfilled for more than a year.

Nearly 9 in 10 (87%) state they have experienced symptoms of stress, burnout or other mental health problems in the last 12 months, with 86% reporting colleagues in their practice have received physical or verbal abuse from patients. 75% say they are unable to spend sufficient time with patients, and only 25% say they are able to offer the kind of care they want to provide

Charlwood said: "It has been allowed to whither on the vine, and today’s crisis is the result. This must not continue. We need a new non-UDA contract for NHS dentistry by April 2023 at the latest".