Government to increase intake of overseas trained dentists to tackle 'dental deserts'

Key Summary

• The UK government is clearing overseas backlog registration of those waiting to take professional registration.

• 2,400 overseas-trained dentists could be registered annually by 2029.

• For the first time in 20 years, dental school places will expand by 50 per year from 2027.

The UK government has announced plans to increase the intake of qualified dentists from overseas, as patients battle with acute shortage of dentists.

These measures come alongside an increase of training places for home-grown dentists, to focus on improving care at dental deserts.

The final exam places run by the Royal College of Surgeons of England will increase nearly tenfold, allowing 1,350 overseas-trained dentists to join the General Dental Council’s (GDC) register annually by 2028.

A total of 2,400 overseas-trained dentists, many of whom are already living in this country, could be registered annually from 2028 to 2029.

The capacity of Licence in Dental Surgery (LDS) exam, an exam that overseas-trained dentists can take in order to practise in the UK, is being expanded, and the places on the final part of the exam would go up from 180 to 1,800 by 2028.

In a first after nearly 20 years, an extra 50 dentists will be trained in England every year from 2027. The new training places would be mainly in dental deserts that do not currently train dentists.

The government also plans to reform the dental contract by the end of this Parliament, to ensure a more judicious funding and rewarding dentists and their teams for the vital work they do.

Health minister Stephen Kinnock said: “No one in the 21st century should be left in a situation where they cannot access a dentist.”

“That is why today’s announcement is crucial, as training more dentists and allowing greater numbers of those qualified overseas to practise will put more patients in dental chairs, receiving care when they need it most.”

“These investments show this government is serious about rebuilding NHS dentistry and laying the foundations to make it fit for the future.”