Dental charges up again - why we're concerned

From 1 April, charges for NHS dentistry will go up by 4 percent – on top of last year's 8.5 percent increase.

This means that charges are as follows:

• Band 1: £26.80
  for checkups, diagnosis including X rays and cleaning if this is medically necessary
• Band 2: £73.50
  for everything in band 1, plus fillings, root canal treatments or to have a tooth or teeth taken out
• Band 3: £319.10
  for everything in bands 1 and 2, plus crowns, dentures, bridges or other laboratory work

Patients are charged for a course of treatment – for example, if you need two fillings and a tooth taken out you only pay one band 2 charge of £73.50.

We know that the cost of living crisis has hit many people hard. Inflation is lower than it was a year ago, but that doesn't mean prices have fallen – they are just going up more slowly. Recent government statistics show that 1 in 10 households can't be sure of having enough to eat - that's up from 1 in 16 households in 2020-21.

Healthwatch England, our national body, commented that "We are disappointed that the government has rejected our call to freeze NHS dental charges this year." Their research shows that 1 in 5 people are putting off going to the dentist because of the cost. That was true of four out of ten people under the greatest financial pressure.

It's true that some people on low incomes get free dental care – but the rules can be complicated, and some people are reluctant to get free treatment even though they are entitled to it.

On top of all this, we know that local people often have difficulty finding an NHS dentist in the first place. Our 2022 report found that 1 in 5 people who were looking for an NHS dentist had to register as a private patient instead. 

This leads to what Healthwatch England calls a "twin crisis" – people can't find an NHS dentist, and even if they find one they often can't afford to get treatment. It means that people in Sutton are going to the dentist less. Back in 2018, just over half of adults here had seen a dentist in the previous two years – last year that figure was down to 36 percent, slightly over a third.

We would echo Healthwatch England's call for the government to better publicise free dental care for low-income groups. We'll also keep an eye on what the NHS locally is doing to make dental care more accessible in Sutton.