Government's dental training boost fails to address the problem, says the BDA

There is a ‘stark contrast’ between the Government’s pledge to train more dentists and ‘the reality of dental education on the ground’, according to the British Dental Association (BDA).

In an email sent to Minister of State for Care, Stephen Kinnock MP and The Rt Hon Baroness Smith of Malvern, Minister for Skills; Petros Mylonas, chairman of the BDA’s Academic Staff Committee and BDA chair, Eddie Crouch (pictured above) warn that ‘without real effort to reverse an exponential decline in the clinical academic workforce, promises to boost dentist numbers and ease the NHS access crisis cannot be met’.

Their concerns come after the Government this month announced the first sustained increase in UK-trained dentist numbers in a generation, with a total of 50 extra students a year expected to be delivered at new schools in the South and East of England from 2027.

We hope the coming workforce plan will tell us that 50 additional UK-trained dentists is not the sum total of the Government’s ambition here. But even at these very modest levels, we lack the academic capacity to make it happen 

But, in their open letter Mylonas and Crouch say that even this very modest increase in student numbers will be impossible to deliver without comprehensive action to support an undervalued and ageing workforce.

The letter states: “The Dental Schools Council’s latest census has revealed that, since 2024, the number of clinical teachers has reduced by 25 per cent, professors by 17.6 per cent, and lecturers by 13.3 per cent. Moreover, more than a quarter of clinical academics are now aged over 55, indicating a growing risk of sudden gaps in senior expertise.

“If this downward trajectory is allowed to continue, our dental academics will simply not have the capacity to meet the demand you have now placed on them. In fact, the BDA’s 2025 survey data

highlighted that this workforce is already on the brink of a capacity crisis, with 90 per cent of respondents indicating concern or extreme concern about their current workload, and many reporting poorer working conditions and unrealistic pressure from management, coupled with fewer staff.

The Government has yet to reveal the true scale of its ambitions in the NHS workforce plan. Whatever shape it takes, we will spell out the facts. We cannot have more students without more teachers. We need a genuinely sustainable academic workforce 

“We hope the coming workforce plan will tell us that 50 additional UK-trained dentists is not the sum total of the Government’s ambition here. But even at these very modest levels, we lack the academic capacity to make it happen.

“Without action here, the Government’s promise to expand dental undergraduate numbers simply cannot be kept.

“Proportionate investment towards the expansion of the dental academic workforce’s size and capacity is non-negotiable, and essential to safeguarding the future of NHS dentistry.”

Crouch added: “The Government has yet to reveal the true scale of its ambitions in the NHS workforce plan. Whatever shape it takes, we will spell out the facts. We cannot have more students without more teachers. We need a genuinely sustainable academic workforce.”