The Scottish Government has accepted a recommended 3.75% pay rise for NHS general dental practitioners (GDPs), with Scotland’s dentists earning the highest in the UK on average.
The pay award will come into force from 1 December 2026 and will be backdated to 1 April 2026. It will apply to both gross item of service fees (general and orthodontic fees) and capitation payments.
The increase in the pay element for GDPs is in line with a report from the Review Body on Doctors’ and Dentists’ Remuneration (DDRB).
However, concurrent recommendations to apply the pay uplift to the full package of remuneration in the Statement of Dental Remuneration (SDR) and negotiate the expenses/cost of care element of the uplift directly with the Scottish Dental Practice Committee were not accepted.
Several further updates were made, including the prior approval limit for orthodontic treatment increasing from £600 to £685.
The threshold for commitment payments will increase by the same 3.75% as the pay rate. Finally, the amount of General Dental Practice Allowance which can be paid to practices will also rise by 3.75% to a maximum of £23,738 per quarter.
How does NHS dentists’ pay compare in the rest of the UK?
Recent figures from NHS England’s Dental Earnings and Expenses Estimates found that mean taxable income among NHS dentists in Scotland had increased by 9.3% between 2023/24 and 2024/25.
The average salary was found to be £99,100 in Scotland, 19% higher than England’s average of £83,000.
In the same period, Northern Ireland saw the largest percentage rise, with taxable income up 13.7% from £77,000 to £87,600.
However, NHS England stressed that figures across the four nations are not directly comparable due to differences in dental contracts and methodology.
The report covers self-employed primary care dentists who carried out some NHS or health service work during the year. It does not include dentists who only carried out private dentistry, or dentists with employment income but no self-employed income.
The figures also include both NHS and private dentistry income, meaning the report cannot show how much taxable income came from NHS work compared with private treatment.
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