A new dental clinic that will train 130 new dental students a year and provide NHS care to more than 5,000 has been given the green light.
Barking and Dagenham Council, in partnership with Queen Mary University of London, announced the £4.1 million investment this week to establish the academic dental centre in central Barking.
The project will help train 130 new dental students per year and provide NHS dental care to over 5,000 patients annually. This comes as nearly 3,500 NHS dentist positions in the UK are vacant and one in eight UK dentists are within five years of retirement.
Funded through the council’s strategic community infrastructure levy funding programme, the partnership will see two floors of Maritime House in Barking town centre transformed into a dental training hub – expected to open its doors to students and patients in September 2026.
Professor Chris Tredwin, dean and institute director at Queen Mary University of London’s Institute of Dentistry, said: ‘I am so proud that Queen Mary will play a key role in this collaboration, which will enhance the oral, and wider general health, of people in Barking and Dagenham and beyond.
‘Through our students we will be able to open the doors of opportunity to offer dental care to those that need it most, in an area of high need. It is an honour to work with the visionary Council of Barking and Dagenham and to be involved in a partnership that will transform lives.’
The initiative supports the government’s 10 Year Health Plan for England and the priorities of the North East London Integrated Care Board (NEL ICB) to tackle health inequalities. It also forms part of the council’s commitment to invest in the health of its expanding community and to regenerate Barking town centre.
Healthier future
Speaking on the partnership, Professor Sir Mark Caulfield, vice principal of health at Queen Mary University of London, said: ‘Queen Mary’s new dental training facility at Maritime House represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity to transform oral health and wider wellbeing for the residents of Barking and Dagenham.
‘By bringing world-class dental education directly into the community, we are removing long-standing barriers to access and ensuring that those who need care the most can receive it free of charge, close to home.
‘Queen Mary has a long history of delivering impactful health innovation. This partnership enables us to establish a meaningful and lasting footprint in Barking and Dagenham where we can help to build a healthier, fairer and more resilient future for the borough and beyond.’
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