Dental charges in England set to increase by 5%

Price hike is in response to the £22 billion cuts needed across the NHS

A regular check up will soon cost more than £20 in England (iStock/ M_a_y_a)

Charges for dental care in England are set to rise by five per cent this year, and by another five per cent next year.

The decision to “uplift dental charges for those who can afford it” was taken as the NHS strives to make £22 billion cuts - or “efficiency savings” as it is worded in the written statement to Parliament.

The increase will mean Band 1 treatment - which includes a check-up, scale and polish and emergency care - will cost £19.70 from April, rising to £20.60 next year.

Band 2 treatments - including fillings, extractions and root canals - will cost £53.90 increasing to £56.30, and Band 3 treatments - such as dentures, bridges and crowns - will cost £233.70 this year and £244.30 next year.

Parliament’s Minister for Community and Social Care Alistair Burt wrote in his statement: “Dental charges remain an important contribution to the overall cost of dental services, first introduced in 1951, but we will keep protecting the most vulnerable within society.”

However, Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen, Chair of the British Dental Association’s general dental practice committee, criticised the increase, saying: “These charges were first introduced in 1951 to limit demand for NHS dentistry, and that’s precisely what they do best. Government has given patients another reason to avoid visiting their dentist.”

“This unprecedented hike in dental charges will only serve to discourage the patients that are most in need of care.

“This money doesn’t go to NHS dentists – they are being asked to play the role of tax collector, while our patients are singled out to subsidise the health service. We can’t tell them how this extra money will be spent, and whether a penny of it will actually end up improving dental care or access to dental services.

“For government these increases may be a source of easy money, but they will only undermine the relationship between patients and practitioners."

The cost of dental care elsewhere in the UK varies and will not be affected by this price increase.