One million children not seen by an NHS dentist in South East England over the past year

960,702 children in the South East of England not  seen by an NHS dentist in the last 12 months

4,112,677 of the South East’s adults not seen by an NHS dentist in the past 2 years

Lib Dems call for boost to NHS dentistry so that no one is forced to pay hundreds of pounds for private care, along with cut to VAT on children’s toothpaste

960,702 children in the South East have not been seen by an NHS dentist for at least a year, shocking new figures published by the Liberal Democrats have revealed. The research, commissioned from the House of Commons Library, estimates the number of children who weren’t seen by an NHS dentist in the year to June 2023, based on the latest data from the health service. It also revealed the proportion of children not seen by an NHS dentist in the South East For the previous year, a staggering 43.8% of children had not been seen by a dentist. This is despite the NHS recommending that under-18s see a dentist at least once a year because their teeth can decay faster, compared to two years for adults. Tooth decay is also the leading cause of hospital admissions for children aged 6-10.

In the South East, 62% of adults  have not been seen by an NHS dentist in the past two years. That equates to over 5 million people who went without dental care in the last 24 months. It comes as the Liberal Democrats adopt a commitment in their pre manifesto to reform NHS dentistry so that no one is forced to pay hundreds of pounds for private care. The party is also calling for an emergency rescue plan for NHS dentistry, including spending any funding that has gone unspent in recent years to boost the number of appointments as well as the removal of VAT on children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate for Dorking and Horley, Chris Coghlan said:

“Every parent knows how important it is to ensure that their children can see a dentist when they need to. Leaving children in pain can disrupt their eating, sleeping and learning. This Conservative government has shown a total disregard for every aspect of our health service and the people of Dorking and Horley are bearing the brunt of it. Wherever you look, the NHS is crumbling. Just this week one more former Dorking NHS Dentist had told me their NHS practice had to close because of the stress of trying to make ends meet as an NHS Dentist. This has to act as a wake-up call for the government. A rescue package for Dorking and Horley’s dentistry is urgently needed. That means reforming NHS dentistry to boost the number of appointments along with removing VAT on children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste.”