THE number of dentists working in the NHS in England has dipped, figures show.
There were 23,577 dentists carrying out NHS treatments in 2022/23, down from 24,272 the previous year.
AlamyThe number of dentists working in NHS has fallen for the second year in a row[/caption]
The last time the figures fell below 24,000 — apart from during the Covid pandemic — was in 2014/15.
The British Dental Association — which got the data from a Freedom of Information request — dental practices are struggling to fill vacancies.
As a result, they face fines for not hitting their NHS contract targets.
The BDA estimates practices will have to pay back more than £400million this year for failing to hit targets.
And the union wants dentists paid more for NHS work.
They get a minimum of £23 for each Unit of Dental Activity, including examinations and polishes.
Patients are charged £25.80, meaning many dentists lose money.
Shawn Charlwood, of the BDA, said: “Government needs to accept the facts and provide a rescue package to keep this service afloat.
“NHS dentistry is haemorrhaging talent and further tweaks to a broken system will not stem the flow.”