After launching a petition demanding the NHS dental care cost hike to be scrapped, the Mirror looks at all the price changes coming and how they will affect Brits who need dental care
The Government has announced that that the cost of basic NHS dental care will go up again, rising by 2.3 per cent from next month.
While some people are entitled to free dental care, many need to pay based on the type of treatment they need. Shiv Pabary, chair of the British Dental Association’s General Dental Practice Committee, said: “This hike is reheated austerity. It won’t put a penny into a struggling service. Our patients are paying more, just so ministers can pay less.
“Rachel Reeves will need to justify her stealth cuts to millions of patients.” After the Mirror launched a petition demanding the cost hike be scrapped, here we take a look at all the price changes and how they will affect Brits who need dental care.
Check-ups or x-rays (Band 1)
Under the new fees, people who need so-called Band 1 care, which includes check-ups or X-rays, will now pay £27.40. Previously, it cost £26.80 previously, meaning it will cost an extra 60p from next month.
Fillings, tooth extraction or root canal treatment (Band 2)
Band 2 care, which includes fillings, tooth extraction or root canal treatment, will cost £75.30, up from £73.50 – an increase of £1.80.
Dentures, bridges, crowns or braces (Band 3)
People who need dentures, bridges, crowns or braces will need to pay £326.70, up from £319.10, according to an amendment to the the National Health Service (Dental Charges) Regulations. This means Brits will need to fork out an extra £7.6 for these treatments.
Free dental care
Children, pregnant women, most veterans and people who receive certain benefits can get free NHS dental care.
The Mirror has been campaigning to fix the broken dentistry system, which has left people unable to get an NHS dentist forced to pull out their own teeth or go into debt to go private. We have now partnered with the BDA and campaigning platform 38 Degrees to launch the petition calling for the hike to be abandoned and urging ministers to come up with an alternative funding plan for NHS dentistry.
BDA chair Eddie Crouch said: “These hikes make patients on modest incomes think twice about seeking care. It’s a toxic approach you won’t find in any other corner of our NHS, and it’s a political choice. We’re proud to stand with the Mirror and 38 Degrees to say no to the Treasury, and to demand the sustainable funding this service desperately needs.”
Save NHS Dentistry petition
Sign our petition to save NHS dentistry and make it fit for the 21st century
Our 3 demands
Everyone should have access to an NHS dentist
More than 12 million people were unable to access NHS dental care last year – more than 1 in 4 adults in England. At the same time 90% of dental practices are no longer accepting new NHS adult patients. Data from the House of Commons Library showed 40% of children didn’t have their recommended annual check-up last year.
Restore funding for dental services and recruit more NHS dentists
The UK spends the smallest proportion of its heath budget on dental care of any European nation. Government spending on dental services in England was cut by a quarter in real terms between 2010 and 2020. The number of NHS dentists is down by more than 500 to 24,151 since the pandemic.
Change the contracts
A Parliamentary report by the Health Select Committee has branded the current NHS dentists’ contracts as “not fit for purpose” and described the state of the service as “unacceptable in the 21st century”. The system effectively sets quotas on the maximum number of NHS patients a dentist can see as it caps the number of procedures they can perform each year. Dentists also get paid the same for delivering three or 20 fillings, often leaving them out of pocket. The system should be changed so it enables dentists to treat on the basis of patient need.
Have you had to resort to drastic measures because you couldn’t access an NHS dentist? Are you a parent struggling to get an appointment for a child? Email martin.bagot@mirror.co.uk or call 0800 282591
A poll has appeared on the campaigning website 38 Degrees which is calling for the price hike to be scrapped. Matthew McGregor, chief executive at 38 Degrees, said: “Families across the country will be bracing themselves today at the news that they’ll soon be hit by a health bill hike during this ongoing cost of living crisis – and that’s if they’re lucky enough to even have access to an NHS dentist in the first place. It’s the wrong move at the wrong time – especially as the extra price tag won’t result in the improvements in dental care so many of us are desperate for.”
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances, and NHS dentistry services that had been left broken by years of neglect. We are already rolling out an extra 700,000 urgent appointments, introducing a supervised toothbrushing programme to prevent tooth decay in young children, and planning dental contract reform to make NHS work more appealing to dentists.
“In previous years, dental patient charges have increased above inflation levels, which is not the case this year. Almost half of all patients remain eligible for dental patient charge exemptions under the NHS – including children, those on low incomes and pregnant women – as we deliver fundamental reform to get the sector back on its feet through our plan for change.”
