The Association of Dental Groups introduces its solution to the dental deserts leaving patients in pain and overseas dentists working in fast food restaurants.
On 18 June 2025, the Association of Dental Groups (ADG), the trade body representing NHS, private and community-based Services, published its Creating Dental Oases – the Solution to Dental Deserts white paper which examines the key issues behind the dental crisis and how shoring up the total dental team is the solution.
In 2022, The ADG launched its first report into the dental workforce crisis, identifying and coining what it called ‘dental deserts’, areas of the country where patient access to a dentist is almost impossible. Now the ADG presents its ‘dental oases’ report offering solutions. The priority intervention needs to be reform by the General Dental Council (GDC) to allow trained dentists from overseas to practice.
What is the solution to dental deserts?
One of the priority interventions in the report is to fix UK dentistry by shoring-up the massive gap in the dental workforce (currently we are short of 2,700+ NHS dentists). The reason why people can’t get to see a dentist is as simple as that: there aren’t enough dentists.
The key ‘low hanging fruit’ solution to filling the dental workforce gap is reforming the exam system to allow fully-trained dentists from overseas to practice in the UK. There are approximately 6,000 trained international dentists – many already in the UK – on the waiting list to get through the overseas registration exam’s (ORE) bottleneck, which only allows for 600 candidates per sitting.
The numbers speak for themselves: a gap in the workforce of 2,700 with 6,000 trained international dentists in the exam’s queue. This is crazy!
Dental Oases launch
Hosted by Jess Asato MP (Labour MP for Lowestoft) and led by Neil Carmichael, ADG executive chair, the ADG launched its dental oases report to MPs in Westminster with a drop-in session in Portcullis House, Westminster.
The thrust of the briefing given to the 21 MPs who attended is that 4.5 million patients are going untreated annually due to the 2,749 shortfall in the dental workforce. At the same time, approximately 6,000 fully trained dentists from overseas – many of whom are already living in the UK – are having to make ends meet by working in McDonald’s and Subway fast food restaurants because of the registration system’s bottleneck.
Press campaign
Key to the communications plan was finding compelling case studies. The ADG invited two trained international dentists who are currently struggling to get through the ORE system to attend and talk to the MPs – as well as giving them a moment each to address the audience with their personal stories.
Eni Shehu Muco has had five failed attempts to get onto the ORE Part 1 list and is working as a dental therapist. Ahmed has come to the UK from Egypt with a master’s degree in implant dentistry and is currently working in McDonald’s because he can’t get onto the ORE Part 2 lis. Both told powerful personal stories which the MP audience clearly found moving.
The ADG issued a press release embargoed until the day before the drop-in day. The results of pitching the dental oases story along with the two compelling case studies, resulted in 18 pieces of press and broadcast coverage. The Guardian’s story was entitled ‘Overseas-trained dentists working in McDonald’s as millions lack NHS care’ and the Daily Mail ran with ‘Dentists cleaning toilets in McDonald’s as thousands unable to secure a licence to practice despite major NHS shortage’. LBC and LBC News interviewed Ahmed and the ADG, and ran on repeat a four-minute report.
The dental oases impact
The most significant outcome was that following the coverage and MPs’ drop-in, Stephen Kinnock MP, the minister responsible for health demanded a meeting with the GDC, the exam system’s official body, and asked them to report back to him by October with a plan on how the overseas dentists’ exam backlog could be speeded up. Two weeks later at a televised Health and Social Care Committee session in Parliament, Stephen Kinnock MP told the inquiry’s audience that he had asked for the system to be reformed by the GDC to allow more international dentists to take the exam.
Bingo! This is exactly what the campaign was pushing for. This outcome is as a direct result of the dental oases launch and press campaign. The ADG now awaits the GDC’s plan due in October to enable talented international dentists to help people who are currently having to resort to pulling their own teeth out.
This article is sponsored by the Association of Dental Groups.
