Calls for urgent change after figures show NHS dentistry is "on its last legs" despite data showing surge in treatments

The British Dental Association said the latest figures – which show treatments remain below pre-pandemic levels across England despite a surge in activity – show NHS dentistry is "on its last legs" and in need of urgent change.

In the year to March, a total of 55,825 courses of treatment were delivered to adults and children in the former Blackpool CCG area, figures from NHS Digital show.

This was more than double the 21,939 treatments delivered in 2020-21, but still 41 per cent below the pre-pandemic figure of 94,022.

Different figures show in the two years to June, 38,349 adults saw their local NHS dentist in Blackpool – 35 per cent of the over-18 population.

That represented another fall from 42 per cent in the 24 months to June 2021, which saw dental activity first hampered by the pandemic, and a drop from 53 per cent in the two years to June 2019.

Some 33 per cent of children (9,579) were seen by NHS dentists between July 2021 and June this year, compared to 18 per cent over the same period the previous year, and 52 per cent in 2018-19.

Across England, dentists carried out 26.4 million treatments in 2021-22, though the BDA said this is just two-thirds of the average volumes delivered annually in the five years prior to the pandemic – 39.4 million.

Eddie Crouch, chairman of the BDA, said: "What we're seeing isn't a recovery, but a service on its last legs.

"The Government will be fooling itself and millions of patients if it attempts to put a gloss on these figures.

"NHS dentistry is lightyears away from where it needs to be. Unless ministers step up and deliver much needed reform and decent funding, this will remain the new normal."

The latest data comes after a BDA and BBC analysis earlier this month found that across England 91 per cent of NHS practices were not accepting new adult patients – 4,933 of 5,416 – rising to 97 per cent in the East Midlands, and 98 per cent in the South West, North West and Yorkshire and the Humber.

According to the NHS Digital figures, there were 88 NHS dentists working across the former NHS Blackpool CCG area in the year to March – meaning each one had the equivalent of 1,573 patients on their roster.

An NHS spokesman said: “The latest data show dental services are recovering post-pandemic, with over 26 million patient treatments delivered last year – up 120 per cent from the year before, along with 1.7 million more children getting seen by an NHS dentist.

“To further support the ongoing restoration of NHS dentistry, we recently announced the first significant changes to dentistry since 2006, helping practices to improve access for the patients that need dental care the most.”

In July, clinical commissioning groups (CCGs) were abolished and replaced with integrated care boards across England.