Under the new plans, dental graduates will have to provide NHS dentistry for three years – dental students, graduates and dentists share their thoughts on the proposal.
This week, the government released its NHS 10-Year Health Plan, detailing major reforms of the health system including dentistry. Among these proposals is that newly-qualified dentists will be required to practise in the NHS for a minimum period. Though not officially confirmed, the period is currently intended to be at least three years.
The report states that the change is because training an individual dentist costs the taxpayer up to £200,000.
We hear from dental students, graduates, dentists and other voices in the profession on what this could mean for dentistry – and if it feels fair.
Maya Abdulrazak, recent dental graduate
As someone who just graduated dental school I understand the intention to retain newly qualified dentists within the system. But, making NHS service compulsory for three years risks overlooking the core issue: why so many dentists are choosing to leave the NHS in the first place.
Throughout dental school, we provide supervised NHS care, and after graduation, most dentists complete a year of NHS work through dental foundation training. Extending this obligation further may feel unfair to those hoping to specialise or pursue different career paths. More importantly, if the underlying problems within NHS dentistry remain unaddressed, forcing graduates to stay may only worsen morale. Once the compulsory period ends, many could be even more deterred from ever returning…
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