World Oral Health Day was on 20 March and, here in the UK, oral healthcare is in its worst state since the introduction of NHS dentistry in 1948.

I took the opportunity on World Oral Health Day to raise a Point of Order in Parliament about the Government’s latest policy announcement to ‘save’ NHS dentistry.

When launching the NHS Dentistry Recovery Plan 6 weeks ago, the Conservative Health Secretary repeatedly assured the House of Commons that the Plan was backed by £200m of new funding.  She said, “There is £200 million on top of the £3 billion that we already spend on NHS dentistry in England”.  She reiterated that the £200m is “additional money”.

I was rather surprised, therefore, to hear the Minister for Primary Care explain to the Health and Social Care Committee on Tuesday that the Plan to deal with the crisis in NHS dentistry was not, in fact, backed by any additional investment. The Minister stated this is “all coming out of the £3bn that is currently [being] so underspent”.

These two statements stand in direct contradiction and I called on the Minister to return to the House to correct the record.

It shows the complete lack of interest from the Government in tackling the clear problems in NHS dentistry.  The British Dental Association (BDA) revealed that residents in Rwanda and Ukraine experience a better level of dental care than UK residents.  The BDA has also made clear that the Dentistry Recovery Plan is unworthy of the name and is doomed to fail.

NHS dentistry is in its worst crisis and its very existence is under threat.  The Government has worsened the dentistry crisis in the UK and cannot be trusted to fix it.

We need a Government that will actually tackle the problem.  Labour’s pledge to create 700,000 new appointment slots in the first year and properly reform the NHS dental contract are ways forward.

My constituents deserve better and I am determined to deliver for them.