Dental student Amirali Ziaebrahimi explores why delaying meaningful reform risks pushing NHS dentistry to the breaking point.
We’ve all seen the headlines: the government’s new 10-Year Health Plan, including changes to NHS dentistry – ambitious on paper, but in practice, arguably disconnected from the reality facing patients and practitioners. As I’ve previously written, the plan fails to address the fundamental crisis facing NHS dentistry, and I believe this is no accident. It’s part of a calculated political strategy: a waiting game.
Last month, we saw Labour announce some changes to the dental contract, with suggestions that more is to come. The party has already acknowledged that the current NHS dental contract is not fit for purpose. This recognition isn’t new. MPs across the political spectrum have echoed it. The British Dental Association has sounded the alarm repeatedly, warning that without urgent reform, NHS dentistry faces collapse.
And yet, we still wait for significant systematic changes. Why? I believe it comes down to timing – and politics.
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