Watch my speech on fixing the NHS Dentistry crisis

NHS Dentistry is currently at its most perilous point in its 75-year history, according to the Nuffield Trust – and here in Devon, we’re living in the epicentre of this crisis.

Over 60% of adults and 50% of children in Devon have not seen a dentist in the past 2 years, and no local practises are accepting new NHS patients.

This crisis is driven by an underfunded, outdated system that is pushing professionals out.

Each year, hundreds of millions of pounds of dental funding goes unspent because practises cannot recruit or retain NHS dentists under the current contract.

Last week, I contributed to a debate on this topic where I asked the Minister: when will we hear about a reformed dental contract?

Labour came into office promising to solve this crisis, but action has been glacial. The Liberal Democrats are calling for real, urgent reform, starting with an emergency dental rescue package to bring dentists back to the NHS.