The 10 Year Health Plan for England, published in July 2025, sets out a long-term programme for changing how healthcare is delivered across England.
For NHS dentistry, the plan is particularly significant because it goes beyond short-term measures to address access. It sets out a longer-term ambition to change the way NHS dental services are funded, delivered and staffed, with greater emphasis on prevention, community-based care, workforce expansion and a new dental contract.
The government says that by 2035, NHS dentistry should provide higher-quality care, improve access and prevention, and become more attractive to dental professionals. It also intends to introduce a new dental contract designed to better match resources with patient need and reward dentists fairly.
The plan is England-specific. Dentistry is a devolved service, so the policies discussed in this article should not automatically be treated as applying to Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland.
For dental professionals, practices and recruitment agencies, the plan could have important implications for NHS dentist recruitment, dental workforce planning, prevention-focused care and the future structure of NHS dental contracts.
What Does the 10-Year Health Plan Mean for NHS Dentistry?
The 10 Year Health Plan proposes a long-term transformation of NHS dentistry in England.
The main dental priorities include:
- reforming the NHS dental contract
- increasing the number of NHS dentists
- improving access to NHS dental care
- increasing prevention and early intervention
- improving children's oral health
- making greater use of the wider dental workforce
- expanding community water fluoridation
- requiring newly qualified dentists to spend a minimum period working in the NHS, subject to implementation
- improving how NHS dental funding reflects patient need
- reducing low-value activity
- using digital technology and wider NHS reforms to improve access.
The plan states that the government intends newly qualified dentists to practise in the NHS for a minimum period, intended to be at least three years, following consultation on the principle.
What Is the NHS 10 Year Health Plan?
The 10 Year Health Plan for England is the government's long-term framework for transforming the NHS over the period to 2035.
It is built around three major shifts:
- Hospital to community
- Analogue to digital
- Sickness to prevention
The intention is to move more healthcare closer to where people live, use technology more extensively and place greater emphasis on preventing illness rather than treating problems only after they develop.
These principles are directly relevant to dentistry because oral health is closely connected to prevention, community services and early intervention.
For NHS dentistry, the plan therefore represents more than a workforce policy. It points towards a different model of delivering dental care.
What Does the 10 Year Health Plan Say About NHS Dentistry?
The plan sets out a specific ambition for NHS dentistry.
By 2035, the government says NHS dentistry will be transformed so that it provides high-quality care at the right time and improves access for people who currently face barriers to care.
It also states that NHS dentistry should become a service that values and attracts dental care professionals.
A new dental contract is intended to sit at the centre of this transformation. The proposed direction is for funding to better reflect patient need, improve access, promote prevention and reward dentists fairly.
This is significant because the NHS dental contract has been a major part of discussions around access, activity, remuneration and recruitment.
1. NHS Dental Contract Reform
One of the most important elements of the plan is the intention to introduce a new NHS dental contract.
The government's short-term reforms began in 2026–27, while the 10 Year Health Plan sets out the longer-term direction for more fundamental reform.
The objective is for the future contract to:
- match resources more closely to patient need
- improve access
- support prevention
- reward dentists fairly
- reduce incentives for low-value activity
- enable the wider dental team to work to the top of its clinical capability.
NHS England's 2026 contractual reforms have already introduced changes including an Urgent Care safety net, increased support for preventative care and oral health stabilisation, and new approaches for patients with greater dental needs.
This means the future of NHS dentistry is likely to involve a gradual shift away from simply measuring activity towards a broader focus on need, prevention, complexity and outcomes.
2. What Changed in NHS Dentistry From 2026?
The 10 Year Health Plan is a long-term strategy, but some of its dental objectives are already being translated into contractual changes.
From June 2026, NHS dental reforms introduced new complex care pathways for patients with significant caries and/or unstable, more severe periodontitis.
These pathways incorporate:
- risk-factor management
- prevention
- self-care support
- management of underlying disease
- treatment of more complex dental needs.
NHS England describes these pathways as moving beyond a purely reparative approach towards more comprehensive management of oral disease.
The 2026 reforms also introduced additional payment arrangements and changes to the NHS dental contract through amendments to the Primary Dental Services Statement of Financial Entitlements.
This provides an early indication of how the longer-term policy direction is being implemented.
3. Greater Focus on Prevention
Prevention is one of the central themes of the 10 Year Health Plan.
The government has identified children's oral health as a particular priority.
The plan notes that tooth extraction is the leading cause of hospital admission among children aged 5 to 9 and proposes a stronger focus on preventive interventions.
Planned measures include:
- improving access to dental care for children
- increasing the use of dental therapists
- expanding fluoride varnish
- increasing use of fissure sealants
- building on supervised toothbrushing programmes
- expanding community water fluoridation.
The plan says community water fluoridation in the north east of England will be expanded from 2028, with an ambition to reach 1.6 million additional people by April 2030. It also proposes refurbishment of older fluoridation schemes in other regions.
The broader policy direction is clear: prevention is intended to become a more important part of NHS dentistry.
4. More NHS Dentists
Workforce capacity is another major component of the plan.
The government says it wants to increase the number of NHS dentists working in the system by making the dental contract more attractive and introducing tie-ins for people trained in the NHS.
The plan states that training a dentist costs the taxpayer up to £200,000 and proposes requiring newly qualified dentists to practise in the NHS for a minimum period, intended to be at least three years.
This represents a potentially important change to the relationship between publicly funded dental education and NHS service.
However, implementation details matter. The plan sets out the government's intention; specific requirements, eligibility, contractual arrangements and implementation mechanisms need to be established through subsequent policy and regulation.
5. What Could This Mean for Dental Recruitment?
The workforce provisions have direct relevance for dental recruitment.
If more newly qualified dentists are required to spend time in NHS dentistry, practices may have access to a larger pool of early-career clinicians seeking NHS roles.
At the same time, the government is pursuing broader dental workforce expansion, including additional dental training places.
This creates two interconnected workforce objectives:
Increase the supply of dentists
→
Increase the proportion working in NHS dentistry
→
Improve access to NHS dental services
The effect will depend on factors such as training capacity, geographical distribution, retention, contract attractiveness and the availability of suitable NHS posts.
For recruitment agencies and dental practices, workforce planning may therefore become increasingly important over the next decade.
6. Dental Therapists and the Wider Dental Team
The 10 Year Health Plan does not focus only on dentists.
It also emphasises making better use of the wider dental workforce.
The government specifically identifies dental therapists as an important part of improving children's access to preventive care and says it will begin a new approach to upskilling professionals to work at the top of their clinical potential from 2026–27.
This fits into a wider NHS approach to multidisciplinary care.
Instead of every aspect of dental care being centred on dentists, future NHS dentistry could make greater use of:
- dental therapists
- dental hygienists
- dental nurses
- orthodontic therapists
- other appropriately trained dental professionals.
For practices, this may create more opportunities to develop skill-mix-based workforce models.
7. NHS Dentistry and Community-Based Care
The first of the 10 Year Health Plan's three major shifts is hospital to community.
This is relevant to dentistry because the government wants healthcare to be delivered closer to people's homes and communities.
The wider NHS programme includes neighbourhood health centres, with the government announcing the rollout of the first 27 centres in 2026 and plans for 250 centres as part of the wider 10 Year Health Plan programme.
The dental implications will depend on how local systems integrate oral health services into community-based models.
Potential areas of development include:
- community dental services
- children's oral health programmes
- prevention
- urgent dental care
- care for vulnerable populations
- integration with wider health services.
This does not mean every dental practice will become part of a neighbourhood health centre. Rather, it reflects the wider direction of NHS service planning towards more community-based care.
8. Digital Dentistry and the 10 Year Health Plan
The second major shift is analogue to digital.
The wider NHS plan places significant emphasis on digital access, including development of the NHS App and greater use of digital services.
For dentistry, digital transformation could affect areas such as:
- appointment access
- communication
- patient information
- referral pathways
- records
- triage
- remote advice
- data sharing.
NHS England already provides guidance for unscheduled dental care that supports both in-person treatment and remote advice during initial triage.
The precise role of digital dentistry within the NHS will depend on future implementation, clinical governance and the development of supporting systems.
9. Urgent Dental Care Is a Major Short-Term Priority
Although the 10 Year Health Plan looks towards 2035, NHS dentistry also has immediate access targets.
The government had committed to creating 700,000 additional urgent dental care appointments in 2025/26. NHS England subsequently introduced an urgent dental care incentive scheme and national service specifications to support delivery.
The 10 Year Health Plan states that the initial priority is to stabilise NHS dentistry and prioritise urgent care while longer-term reform is developed. It says capacity had already been created for 700,000 additional urgent appointments.
This creates an important distinction:
Short term: improve access and stabilise NHS dentistry.
Long term: fundamentally change how NHS dentistry is funded and delivered.
10. How Could the Plan Affect Dentist Jobs?
The future NHS dental workforce could look different from the current model.
The direction of policy suggests greater demand for dentists and wider dental professionals in areas where access and oral health outcomes are poorer.
The government has already been expanding dental training capacity as part of wider workforce investment.
The 10 Year Health Plan also identifies the need to make NHS dentistry more attractive to professionals.
For dentists considering NHS roles, important factors may increasingly include:
- NHS contract arrangements
- patient need
- prevention-focused care
- multidisciplinary working
- community dentistry
- workforce distribution
- career development
- geographical recruitment incentives.
For international dentists, the expansion of NHS workforce opportunities also makes understanding GDC registration, NHS eligibility, recruitment requirements and onboarding increasingly important.
11. Will the 10 Year Health Plan Solve the NHS Dentist Shortage?
The plan is designed to increase NHS dental capacity, but it should not be interpreted as an immediate solution to workforce shortages or access problems.
Several components need to work together:
Training places
→ more qualified dentists
Registration capacity
→ more dentists able to enter the UK workforce
NHS contract reform
→ greater ability to attract and retain clinicians
Workforce distribution
→ dentists working where need is greatest
Retention
→ experienced clinicians remaining in NHS dentistry
Prevention
→ reduced avoidable disease and treatment demand over time.
The government's own approach combines dental school expansion, registration capacity, contract reform and prevention rather than relying on one measure alone.
12. How Could NHS Dental Contract Reform Affect Dental Practices?
For dental practices, contract reform could influence how NHS dentistry is organised financially and clinically.
The government's stated objective is to develop a contract that better matches resources to need, improves access, promotes prevention and rewards dentists fairly.
The 2026 reforms already provide examples of this direction, including payments for complex care pathways and greater support for preventative care.
Practices may therefore need to consider:
- patient complexity
- prevention
- treatment planning
- workforce skill mix
- NHS/private treatment balance
- appointment capacity
- urgent care
- clinical governance
- recruitment and retention.
The exact financial impact will depend on future contract design and implementation.
13. Why Children's Dentistry Is Central to the Plan
Children's oral health receives particular attention within the 10 Year Health Plan.
The government intends to improve access to dental care for children and expand prevention-focused interventions.
This includes:
- supervised toothbrushing
- fluoride varnish
- fissure sealants
- dental outreach
- improved use of dental therapists
- broader prevention programmes.
NHS England has also introduced a new national clinical standard for oral health and dental care for children and young people, covering care from birth to age 16, with extensions to age 25 for certain people with special educational needs, disabilities or long-term conditions requiring continuity of specialist care.
This indicates that children's dentistry is becoming increasingly integrated into the broader NHS oral health strategy.
14. 10 Year Health Plan vs NHS Dental Recovery Plan
It is useful to distinguish between the 2024 NHS dental recovery and reform plan and the 2025 10 Year Health Plan.
| Area | NHS Dental Recovery Plan | 10 Year Health Plan |
|---|---|---|
| Main timeframe | Immediate and medium term | 2025–2035 |
| Main focus | Recovery and access | Long-term transformation |
| Urgent care | Major priority | Initial stabilisation priority |
| Prevention | Expanded | Central long-term objective |
| Dental workforce | Expand and develop | Increase NHS dentist participation |
| Contract | Short-term reforms and longer-term trajectory | New contract at the centre of future model |
| Children | Prevention and access | Major priority |
| Community care | Increased outreach | Hospital-to-community shift |
| Digital | Supporting reforms | NHS-wide digital transformation |
| Workforce skill mix | Expanded | Work to top of capability |
The 2024 dental recovery plan aimed to improve access, increase activity, support the dental workforce and establish the direction for longer-term contract reform.
The 10 Year Health Plan takes that direction into a broader 10-year transformation programme.
What Does the 10 Year Health Plan Mean for International Dentists?
The plan is relevant to internationally qualified dentists because one of its objectives is to increase the number of dentists working within NHS dentistry.
However, the plan does not remove existing professional registration requirements.
International dentists still need to meet the relevant General Dental Council (GDC) registration requirements before practising dentistry in the UK.
The workforce strategy therefore needs to be understood as one part of a larger pathway:
Dental qualification
→ GDC registration
→ Right to work
→ NHS eligibility where applicable
→ Employment or associate position
→ NHS onboarding and professional requirements
For international dentists researching UK opportunities, the 10 Year Health Plan provides useful context about the direction of NHS workforce policy, but it does not itself grant registration or employment rights.
What Could NHS Dentistry Look Like by 2035?
If the policies set out in the plan are implemented as intended, NHS dentistry could increasingly emphasise:
Prevention over late treatment
More resources could be directed towards preventing dental disease and managing risk factors earlier.
Need-based funding
Future contract arrangements are intended to better reflect patient need and complexity.
Wider workforce utilisation
Dental therapists and other professionals could play a larger role in delivering appropriate preventive and clinical care.
Community-based services
More care could be delivered closer to where patients live.
Digital access
Digital systems could play a greater role in booking, communication, triage and care pathways.
A larger NHS dental workforce
Training expansion and measures to increase NHS participation are intended to increase the number of dentists working in the NHS.
These are policy objectives rather than guaranteed outcomes, and the final impact will depend on implementation, funding, workforce supply and future contractual arrangements.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the 10 Year Health Plan for England?
The 10 Year Health Plan is the government's long-term strategy for transforming the NHS in England through three major shifts: hospital to community, analogue to digital, and sickness to prevention.
What does the 10 Year Health Plan say about NHS dentistry?
It sets out plans to transform NHS dentistry by 2035, including a new dental contract, improved access, greater prevention, more NHS dentists and better use of the wider dental workforce.
Will the NHS dental contract change?
Yes. The government intends to undertake fundamental reform of the NHS dental contract, with the future contract intended to better match resources with patient need, improve access, promote prevention and reward dentists fairly.
Will newly qualified dentists have to work for the NHS?
The 10 Year Health Plan states that the government intends to require newly qualified dentists to practise in the NHS for a minimum period, intended to be at least three years, following consultation on the principle. The detailed implementation arrangements are important and should be checked as policy develops.
Will the plan increase the number of NHS dentists?
Increasing the number of NHS dentists is an explicit objective of the plan. The government intends to use measures including making the dental contract more attractive and introducing NHS tie-ins for those trained in the NHS.
Will NHS dentistry become more focused on prevention?
Yes. Prevention is a central part of the plan, particularly for children. Proposed measures include fluoride varnish, fissure sealants, supervised toothbrushing and wider use of preventive dental services.
Does the 10 Year Health Plan apply to all of the UK?
No. The 10 Year Health Plan is specifically for England. Health and dental services are devolved in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, so their policies and contractual arrangements differ.
How will the plan affect dental therapists?
The plan identifies dental therapists as an important part of improving access and prevention, particularly for children. It proposes greater use of the wider dental workforce and upskilling professionals to work at the top of their clinical capability.
How will the plan affect dental recruitment?
The workforce strategy is intended to increase the number of dentists working in NHS dentistry and improve the attractiveness of NHS dental careers. The eventual effect on recruitment will depend on implementation of training, contract and retention measures.
Conclusion: The Future of NHS Dentistry Under the 10 Year Health Plan
The 10 Year Health Plan for England places NHS dentistry within a wider transformation of the health service.
For dentistry, the key themes are clear: prevention, access, workforce expansion, community care, digital transformation and fundamental dental contract reform.
The plan also represents a shift from viewing NHS dentistry purely as a treatment service towards a broader model focused on preventing oral disease, managing patient risk and directing resources towards people with greater need.
For dental professionals and practices, the most important changes to watch over the coming years will be the development of the new NHS dental contract, workforce requirements for newly qualified dentists, expansion of dental training, use of the wider dental team and the implementation of prevention-focused care.
The 2035 ambition is significant, but the final shape of NHS dentistry will depend on how these commitments are translated into contracts, funding, workforce policy and clinical practice.
