Plan to ‘end dental deserts’ as 4.5m children didn’t see an NHS dentist last year

The party's analysis shows that 4.5m children in England didn’t see an NHS dentist in 2023. Tooth decay is the most common reason for hospital admission in children aged between six and 10, with over 100,000 children admitted to hospitals with rotting teeth since 2018.

On a visit to Scotland, Ed Davey and Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton announced plans to reform dentistry across the UK.

The Liberal Democrats warned that parts of the country are turning into dental deserts with thousands of children and adults not seen by an NHS dentist. In Norfolk, 55 per cent of children had not seen an NHS dentist in the past year, or 101,675, the highest proportion in the country. In Gloucestershire and Surrey two thirds of adults had not seen an NHS dentist in the past two years.