A coalition of Somerset MPs has come together to call for immediate and substantive reforms to the NHS dental contract, highlighting an ongoing crisis that has rendered much of the county a “dental desert.” Since the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, many residents have struggled to access NHS dental care, often forced to turn to costly private dentists or attempt dangerous DIY solutions.
Despite efforts by the Labour government, which has injected more funding leading to three new dental practices opening in Somerset and increased emergency appointments, Conservative and Liberal Democrat MPs argue that more drastic and faster reforms are urgently needed. They emphasize the necessity of a new contract designed to retain NHS dentists and secure local access to dental services.
Yeovil MP Adam Dance starkly compared the current situation to a “Charles Dickens novel,” revealing that 56% of children in Somerset did not see an NHS dentist in 2025. Citing personal accounts of parents and seniors in severe pain unable to receive treatment, Dance highlighted a disturbing trend where some locals find it cheaper to fly to Spain for dental work than seek care at home.
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Since his election in July 2024, Dance has secured additional NHS dental appointments and prompted the commissioning of new surgeries in Chard and Crewkerne. However, he stressed that systemic problems persist, notably inadequate funding and the flawed 2006 NHS dental contract. This contract caps the number of NHS patients a dentist can treat and provides no financial incentive to exceed quotas, discouraging dentists from offering more NHS services. Additionally, the contract’s registration system prevents dentists from prioritizing local patients, allowing people to seek NHS dental care miles away, leaving many locals without treatment.
Sir Ashley Fox, Conservative MP for Bridgwater, acknowledged his party’s failure over 14 years to resolve the issue and urged the government to prioritize reform. He emphasized the importance of fair access nationwide, not just in urban areas, and called for structural fixes over incremental changes.
Lib Dem MPs Gideon Amos (Taunton and Wellington) and Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) echoed these concerns, calling attention to parents paying hundreds annually for private care and urging prioritization of children for NHS appointments. Munt also advocated for an accelerated start to a government plan requiring newly qualified dentists to work in the NHS for three years, suggesting this should begin in September 2026 instead of 2027.
Care Minister Stephen Kinnock described Somerset as an outlier with serious dental access challenges, promising urgent action to reform contracts alongside increased funding. Acknowledging the previous government’s failures, he called the situation “Dickensian,” citing alarming rates of childhood tooth decay leading to hospital admissions. Kinnock affirmed that reform efforts would focus on aligning resources with need, improving access, prevention, fair dentist compensation, and utilizing the full dental workforce’s skills, stressing the complexity and importance of getting changes right.
The NHS Somerset Integrated Care Board (ICB) reported a 3% increase in NHS dental work in 2025/26 and reaffirmed their commitment to enhancing access. They have introduced measures such as higher payments to local dentists for NHS work, more urgent appointments via NHS 111, and recruitment incentives like ‘golden hellos.’ With plans underway to encourage existing practices to expand NHS activity and potentially open new ones, the ICB acknowledges that while progress has been made, much remains to be done to meet the county’s dental needs.