More Dentists Planned As Government Moves To Expand Workforce

The government has announced plans to significantly increase the number of dentists able to practise in the UK, in a move aimed at improving patient access to appointments and tackling long-standing shortages in dental services.

Under new measures announced by the Department of Health and Social Care, thousands more dentists are expected to join the workforce over the coming years by expanding exam capacity for overseas-trained professionals and increasing the number of training places for students in England.

Currently, many qualified dentists who trained overseas are unable to practise in the UK because of limited places on the professional registration exams required to join the register of the General Dental Council.

The government says it will increase the number of places on the final part of the Licence in Dental Surgery exam run by the Royal College of Surgeons of England nearly tenfold, from 180 places to 1,800 by 2028. At the same time, the GDC will expand capacity for the clinical stage of its Overseas Registration Exam, increasing places to 1,500.

Together, these changes could allow around 2,400 overseas-trained dentists to register each year by 2028–29, helping address workforce shortages and potentially improving access to NHS dental care.

Health Minister Stephen Kinnock said the changes were intended to help more patients receive care when they need it.

“No one in the 21st century should be left in a situation where they cannot access a dentist. Training more dentists and enabling those qualified overseas to practise will help ensure more patients are able to get the care they need.”

Alongside these reforms, the government has also announced the first sustained expansion of dental school places in nearly 20 years, with an additional 50 dentists to be trained in England each year from 2027. The Office for Students has been asked to prioritise these new training places in areas that currently lack dental training provision, often referred to as “dental deserts”.

These areas frequently include rural and coastal communities, where patients can face particular difficulties accessing NHS dentistry.

Leaders within the profession welcomed the plans, noting that increasing exam capacity and expanding training places could help address workforce pressures and improve public access to care.

The government says the measures form part of wider plans to reform NHS dentistry and improve access to services, alongside longer-term work to reform the dental contract as part of its forthcoming 10-Year Health Plan.

Kerry Booth, Chief Executive, Rural Services Network: Improving access to NHS dentistry is vital for rural communities, where many residents already face long journeys or lengthy waiting times to secure an appointment. Expanding the number of dentists able to practise in the UK is therefore a welcome step, particularly if it helps address the workforce shortages that have left many areas struggling to provide timely care. However, workforce growth alone will not solve the challenges faced in rural areas. Any long-term solution must recognise the specific barriers rural communities face, including recruitment difficulties, travel distances and the higher costs of delivering services across sparsely populated areas. Through our Delivering for All campaign, the Rural Services Network has called for a clear rural workforce strategy across health and care services, including dentistry, to ensure that people living in villages, market towns and coastal communities are not left behind when it comes to accessing essential healthcare.