New figures show 5,274 items prescribed by NHS dentists were disallowed in one year, leaving pharmacies an estimated £50,000 out of pocket.
The unpaid dental items formed part of approximately 32,000 prescription items disallowed by the NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) between July 2025 and June 2026. A disallowed item is one that a pharmacy may have already supplied but will not receive reimbursement for.
The Dental Practitioners’ Formulary (DPF) determines exactly which items NHS dentists are permitted to prescribe. For example, it includes amoxicillin capsules but not tablets. Before prescribing, NHS dentists should check that the exact item and formulation appear in the prescriber’s formulary.
However, Suraj Shah, drug tariff and reimbursement manager at Community Pharmacy England (CPE), told Dentistry that the formularies were overdue for review, as they included discontinued medications and product names that do not align with those displayed in current prescribing and pharmacy systems.
He said: ‘The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and NHS should tidy up the formularies to remove products that are no longer available, and reflect the names as they appear on NHS systems. In addition, both formularies should be updated to reflect latest prescribing guidelines.’
CPE, which estimated the £50,000 figure, said it had requested that DHSC review and update both the dentist and nurse prescribers’ formularies.
Is there a solution to prevent dental prescriptions from being disallowed?
Shah stressed that pharmacists were dispensing the disallowed items in ‘good faith’ as they have a seemingly valid prescription from a dental professional. He called for collaboration between dental and pharmacy professions to raise awareness of the exact products that dental professionals can prescribe and prevent invalid prescriptions.
He added: ‘Pharmacies, similarly to NHS dentists, are going through a lot of financial pressure – money is tight. Anything we can do to help avoid such risks is always welcome.
‘Raising awareness of the items not permitted for prescribing on FP10D forms will help NHS dentists and pharmacy teams reduce prescribing and dispensing errors, respectively.’
He also said moving NHS dentists towards electronic prescribing would be hugely beneficial, as it could restrict selection to items listed in the formulary. However, he acknowledged that this reform would take time to progress.
NHSBSA has been asked to provide details of the dental products most frequently disallowed on FP10D forms but has not yet provided them.
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