Over a third of a million people don’t have a dentist in Greater Manchester, according to the latest ONS data on experiences of NHS Healthcare services.
In the North West, one in 50 people without a dentist are resorting to A&E services for dental care on average each month. This is significantly higher than other regions, with visits to A&E by people unable to access NHS dentistry six times greater in the North West than in the North East and Yorkshire between September and April of this year.
These visits put more pressure on NHS services like A&E and GPs, according to the British Dental Association.
Many of those surveyed who were unable to access NHS dental care were in pain and in urgent need of care.
Financial stability for dentists means de-listing NHS patients
This comes as another dental practice in Greater Manchester has stopped providing NHS services this year – one of six other dentists which have done so since March 2024.
Trafford’s Revive Dental Practice (also known as Davyhulme Dental Care) delivered the news to its NHS patients that it would no longer be providing NHS dentistry last month.
It joins the list with dentists Green Lane Dental Practice in Wigan, Crystalcare Dental Practice in Manchester, KDPG Ltd and Staly Dental in Tameside and The Bank Dental Practice’s dentist Mr Haffner in Bury.
Rachel* was one of the patients who has been told by Revive Dental Care that she has one final NHS appointment and then she can either join monthly payment plan DenPlan, receive private care or face losing her dentist altogether.
She said: “A lot of people are kicking off about it! And a lot of them had been registered as an NHS patient at the practice since it opened like I have. I joined them before they opened, when they were kitting it out.
“Back then it wasn’t that hard to get dentists like it is now. I’ve been there since my daughter was a baby – that’s the frustrating thing. They’ve been my dentist for 17 years. And I’ve never missed an appointment.
“The only way I can stay at my dentist now is if I do the DenPlan, which is £24.99 a month so I’m not doing that, or stay with them and sign up as a private patient and just pay each time I go.
“Or leave and find another one… which is obviously not going to happen easily.”
Andrew Western, Labour MP for Stretford and Urmston, has written to the Greater Manchester ICB and to the Health Secretary to raise concerns for the area.
He said: “As commercial businesses, dentists are free to choose whether to offer NHS appointments but the decision by Davyhulme Dental Practice is very disappointing indeed.
“NHS dentistry has been in crisis now for years, with eight in ten dentists in England not taking on new NHS patients.
“I have written to the practice to ask for more detail about their decision and to highlight the level of concern amongst patients who just can’t afford to move on to Denplan.”
The company that owns Revive Dental Care, Rodericks Dental Partners, is yet to comment on the closure of NHS services at the branch.
For those who have found themselves without an NHS dentist it may be a two-year wait before they can get an appointment.
It took Manchester-based Reddit user ThePenultimateRolo two years to find an NHS dentist.
Two years into searching for a dentist, Reddit user lickle_lilli is still looking for NHS dental care.
In April, approximately 10% of people in the North West did not have a dentist. This sits towards the middle of results in other regions: all areas of the country are struggling to provide access to NHS dentistry, though the South West is most significantly affected.
Data from the ONS survey indicates that, like Rachel, most people who can’t get an NHS dentist appointment are unable to turn to private dentistry.
In the North West, three quarters of respondents did nothing when they couldn’t access NHS dentistry.
The ONS data showed that 10% of people surveyed in the North West responded that they did “other” when unable to access NHS dentistry.
It’s unclear what “other” means, but a survey carried out by dentist’s union British Dental Association in 2024 indicated that eight in ten dentists had seen cases of ‘DIY dentistry’ in recent years, and the phenomenon has previously been reported as on the rise.
Across England, the picture of NHS dentistry is the same. Only just over half of those surveyed had an NHS dentist. Between September and April an average of 88% of people without a dentist were unable to get an NHS appointment in a four-week period.
Accessing NHS dentistry has been becoming increasingly difficult for years, an issue that a COVID-19 backlog has exacerbated.
As a result, consumer spending on dentistry is at an all-time high. In the last decade expenditure on dental services has more than doubled.
Improving the picture of NHS dentistry
Eddie Crouch, British Dental Association Chair, believes contractual reform is the only way forward.
He said: “The Government’s plan for 700,000 extra urgent and emergency appointments will help, but even they estimate that this will only help one in three of those needing urgent care. Access can be gained via dialing 111 where the local ICB should have commissioned a service to help.”
An incentivised programme set up by the previous government in February 2024 was created to target areas with very low numbers of NHS dentists. The Golden Hello programme grants up to 240 dentists £20,000 to set up NHS dental care in areas with workforce challenges, to attract new workforce to the NHS, and to retain those who might have otherwise moved into private practice.
However, Mr Crouch said: “Reports show that Golden Hellos have not been as yet successful as this mainly moves a dentist from one area to another leaving a gap where they moved from.
“Contractual reform is the only way to encourage more dentists to stay and be recruited to NHS Dentistry.”
For most dentists, providing NHS services is just not viable. Going private is increasingly the only way to stay financially stable in dental health care and a recent Public Accounts Committee report concluded that attempts to improve access to NHS dentistry so far have been a ‘complete failure’.
Mr Crouch said: “The call from the BDA is for a contract that removes the perverse incentive of those with the highest need and worst oral health being the least welcome.
“If you see a patient after many years who needs more than three fillings you get paid the same even if they need 15 fillings! Tweaks to the contract have not removed the target base contract.
“We want a contract that is modern to encourage prevention and gives the dentist sufficient funds to treat the patient and will be based on capitation like a GP. This would be varied depending on the type of patient seen and those practices in more deprived areas will get higher capitation payments.
“Alongside a fee per item for the small number of patients that have high needs, this will allow better care to be delivered and stop patients from being refused access due to their financial risk to the practice.”
*Name changed upon request for anonymity
Feature image: Unsplash
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