A Snapshot of UK Dentistry – Summer 2025
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- Published: Wednesday, 03 September 2025 10:09
- Written by Peter Ingle
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Anyone emerging from a Rip Van Winkle like sleep, or a couple of decades marooned on a desert island, and wondering about the state of UK dentistry, would rapidly get up to speed after reading a single article published recently in The Courier.
Although officially covering the Dundee, Angus and Fife areas, the paper managed to cover many of the key issues currently facing all of UK dentistry. A tale of reduced access to dentistry, indignant great grandmothers, dental tourism, shrinking practices, dentists delivering pizza as surgeries lay vacant, and an NHS spokesperson simultaneously claiming that there is little that they can do, but also that they are doing well and making improvements.
Starting with, “Fife great-gran heading to Bulgaria for dental treatment as long waiting lists bite,”
The story of Jessie Cotton set the tone. After struggling to access NHS dental treatment since moving to the area in 2019, she is now saving up to get her dental treatment abroad.
The 78 year old’s analysis of her situation was simple: “I don’t have access to an NHS dentist. So if I was to get a set of teeth implants done privately in the UK it would cost an arm and a leg – it’s far too expensive. But if I get myself over to Bulgaria there is a dental hospital there where I can get it done at a fraction of the cost. I am planning to save some money up as soon as I can and go over there. Then I won’t have to worry about dentists in Britain any more.”
Despite an area of 512 square miles and population of over 370,000 in 2022, the Fife Dental Advice Line had advised that only two dentists in Fife were registering new NHS patients. One of these had a three month waiting list, and the distances involved meant that they were inaccessible to someone like Jessie, who did not drive.
Her Bulgarian “set of implants” would cost around £6,000, “Whereas a dentist here is charging £32,000 for a full set.” She added: “And we knew a lot of people who had their teeth done at the dental hospital there. They had beautiful teeth and never had any infections or problems with them. I could probably get a dentist over there quicker than I would here! It’s a disgrace.”
The story than shed some light on why so many in Fife have been unable to get an NHS dental appointment. According to figures from Public Health Scotland, the number of NHS dental practices in Fife fell from 67 in September 2019, to 57 in September 2024, a decrease of nearly 15%.
The Courier spoke to David Chong Kwan, a regular GDPUK contributor, who has been practicing for 41 years. He runs three practices in Fife, in Dunfermline, and Rosyth.
He explained one of the key reasons for the drop in NHS availability: “All the Fife practices which I have any information about have closed due to not being able to recruit dentists.” His own practice had not escaped, with eleven dentists pre-Covid, compared to six now.
Despite two-thirds of UK practices reporting unfilled vacancies, there are estimated to be 6,000 overseas dentists in the UK who are waiting to sit the overseas registration examination.
David spoke from his own experience, of the problems faced by overseas graduates who want to work in the UK: “I have met dentists working as kitchen porters, on supermarket checkouts, delivering pizza and manning phones in NHS call centres. And in my own practice, they are working as trainee dental nurses.”
Nor were things about to get better: “Many of these dentists are likely to be deported under the government’s recent crackdown on migrants before they get the chance to register in the UK as dentists. We are being deprived of a much-needed workforce.”
NHS Fife acknowledged that the recruitment and retention of dentists remains one of their biggest challenges. Recent figures show there are now approximately 230 to deliver NHS dentistry in NHS Fife. This compares with 257 in 2019/2020.
When it came to identifying the underlying problem, NHS Fife seemed more inclined to blame practice owners than government policy, with their spokesman saying: “In recent years some dental companies have opted to reduce the amount of NHS dentistry they provide. Others have taken a decision to cease offering NHS services.” He added, “Whilst health boards work collaboratively with dental practices, there is no direct contractual influence over practice decisions.”
The spokesman did admit that dental practices have been subject to cost pressures in recent years, but offered little hope of help, saying: “But as the contract between dental practices and the NHS in Scotland is agreed nationally, we are unable locally to mitigate these cost pressures.”
Despite all of this he added, “We are committed to maximising access to NHS dentistry in Fife,” and said that the Scottish Dental Access Initiative (SDAI) had resulted in a new dental practice recently opening in Dunfermline.
The story concluded with contact numbers for the district’s emergency dental service and the Fife Dental Advice Line.
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