Labour will end Dickensian ‘DIY dentistry’ and dental deserts across England, the party’s health spokesman has pledged.
The party is launching adverts on Monday featuring an image of a child’s mouth with rotting teeth in select constituencies where dental practices have shut their doors to new NHS patients.
Wes Streeting has said July 4 is a golden opportunity to ‘stop the rot’ and rescue NHS dentistry – especially in ‘dental deserts’ such as Bolsover, Stroud, and Filton and Bradley Stoke – rather than leaving desperate patients to do it themselves with pliers.
Labour’s Dentistry Rescue Plan will propose supervised toothbrushing in primary schools after NHS figures revealed the number one reason why children aged six to ten years are admitted to hospital is to have their decaying teeth extracted.
They will also give ‘golden hellos’ of £20,000 for new dentistry graduates who spend at least three years working in underserved areas.
Labour’s health spokesman will accuse the Conservatives of planning to kill off NHS dentistry after the election and replace it with an insurance system – an idea floated by Health Minister Andrea Leadsom weeks before the election.
Mr Streeting said: ‘It’s virtually impossible to get a dentist appointment after 14 years of Conservative neglect. People are resorting to pulling their own teeth out – DIY dentistry should be the stuff of Charles Dickens’ books, not Britain in 2024.
‘Under the Conservatives, communities across the country have become dental deserts without NHS dentists for miles.
‘It’s a clear sign that we are going backwards as a country under the Conservatives – a service that used to be available to all of us is dying out.
‘People in these dental deserts have a chance to stop the rot and save NHS dentistry at this general election.’
Research from Labour earlier this year revealed that eight in ten dentists had shut their doors to new NHS patients.
Separate polling from YouGov has found that one in every ten people have attempted DIY dentistry, including some pulling their own teeth out with pliers.
Last year the NHS missed its targets for check-ups and fillings in every part of the country, except north London.
The party wants to fill the gap of appointments with an extra 700,000 urgent and emergency dental appointments a year.
A Tory spokesman said: ‘Labour’s dentistry promise is part of their £38.5 billion blackhole which will lead to £2,094 in higher taxes for families.
‘If Labour had a plan for dentistry they would be doing it in Wales – but the truth is 93 per cent of NHS dental practices in Labour-run Wales are not even accepting patients.’