PATIENTS across England will be able to get urgent dentist appointments more easily thanks to a major overhaul of NHS dentistry.

The Government will proceed with a raft of reforms, the most significant modernisation of the NHS dental contract in years, following a consultation with the sector and the public, published on:- 16 December 2025.

By prioritising patients with the greatest needs, the changes, which will be in place from April 2026, will make sure the NHS dentistry budget, estimated at around £4 billion, delivers value for money for the taxpayer by diverting funds into better and more effective treatments for those who need it most.

For example, a patient with tooth decay in several teeth or severe gum disease would require complex treatment. Currently, they would need to be treated over multiple appointments. For a patient, this is hard to coordinate and book with a dentist, while for a dentist, this would be costly and time consuming.

With the changes, this patient could secure a single comprehensive package of treatment with a dentist over a longer period, tailored to their needs and including oral health advice. This could save a patient up to £225 in fees. For the dentist, they will be incentivised to deliver this under our new standardised payment package.

This will support thousands of patients to receive better care on the NHS.

Patients also struggle to find dental practices that treat people with urgent needs and have to choose to live with the pain or travel out of their local area to find somewhere that can treat them.

These reforms will make urgent dental care a core part of what NHS dental practices must provide through the new contract, making it easier for people to access an urgent appointment at their local NHS dental practice, saving them from travelling out of their area.

Urgent care may be for issues including:- severe tooth pain, dental infections, trauma to teeth, or other conditions that need rapid treatment, and dentists will be fairly incentivised to treat these on the NHS.

The sweeping reforms work alongside the Government's wider rescue plan for dentistry, including:- the rollout of urgent and emergency care appointments, and community water fluoridation schemes proven to reduce decay. 

The Government has also rolled out a pioneering national supervised toothbrushing programme for:- 3 to 5 year olds, which will support up to:- 600,000 children this year, with over 4 million toothbrushes and toothpastes delivered already.

Minister for Care Stephen Kinnock said:- "We inherited a broken NHS dental system and have worked at pace to start fixing it; rolling out urgent and emergency appointments and bringing in supervised toothbrushing for young children in the most deprived areas. Now we are tackling the deep-rooted problems so patients can have faith in NHS dentistry; these changes will make it easier for anyone with urgent dental needs to get NHS treatment, preventing painful conditions from spiralling into avoidable hospital admissions.  This is about putting patients 1st and supporting those with the greatest need, while backing our NHS dentists, making the contract more attractive, and giving them the resources to deliver more. This marks the 1st step towards a new era for NHS dentistry after a decade of decline, 1 that delivers for patients and our dedicated dental professionals.” 

In a boost for children’s dental health, dental nurses will be encouraged to apply fluoride varnish to children’s teeth helping maintain good oral health. Dental staff will receive a fairer payment for applying fissure sealants to protect children’s teeth from decay, in a shift towards preventing poor dental health. 

To improve retention, NHS dental teams will also receive more support through annual reviews, learning and development, in addition to Government funding to support sick leave and guidance on NHS contractual terms and benefits.