The UK is investing in dental education and workforce expansion as part of a wider effort to address persistent pressures on NHS dentistry.
For years, concerns about access to NHS dental care have been linked to workforce availability, regional inequalities, training capacity and the ability to retain dentists in areas where demand is greatest.
The government's response is increasingly focused on training more dentists, expanding dental school capacity, increasing professional examination capacity and directing new training opportunities towards underserved areas.
The changes are particularly significant in 2026 and 2027.
In England, the government has announced the first sustained expansion of dental school places in nearly two decades. From 2027, the University of East Anglia (UEA) and the University of Portsmouth are each due to receive 25 new dental training places, creating 50 additional places a year in areas identified as having significant unmet dental need.
At the same time, the wider NHS workforce strategy aims to expand undergraduate dental training places by 40% to more than 1,100 places by 2031–32, while also increasing training capacity for dental therapists and hygienists.
But what does this investment actually mean for the future of UK dentistry?
How Is the Government Investing in Dental Training?
The government is investing in dental workforce development through several connected measures, particularly in England:
- Expanding undergraduate dental training places.
- Establishing new dental training capacity in underserved areas.
- Increasing capacity for professional registration examinations for overseas dentists.
- Funding clinical education and training placements through NHS England's education and training tariffs.
- Supporting dental core and specialty training.
- Providing financial support for eligible healthcare students undertaking clinical placements.
- Increasing training opportunities for dental care professionals such as therapists and hygienists.
The long-term objective is to create a larger and more geographically balanced dental workforce and improve access to NHS dental care.
However, training more dentists will not solve workforce shortages immediately. Dental education takes several years, and recruitment, retention, NHS contract arrangements and regional distribution will continue to influence how much additional capacity reaches patients.
Why Is the UK Investing More in Dental Training?
The underlying issue is straightforward: demand for dental care is not evenly matched by workforce supply.
Some parts of England have significantly greater difficulty accessing NHS dental services than others. These areas are often described as dental deserts or areas of high unmet dental need.
The government's 2024 dental recovery and reform plan linked workforce expansion directly to improving access to NHS care. It set out plans to increase undergraduate dental training places by 40% to more than 1,100 by 2031–32.
The policy also recognises that simply increasing the national number of dentists may not be enough.
Where dentists train can influence where they subsequently work. For that reason, recent expansion has increasingly focused on regions where access to dental care is particularly difficult.
This is why the creation of new dental training capacity in Portsmouth and East Anglia is strategically important.
How Many New Dental Training Places Are Being Created?
One of the clearest recent developments is the creation of 50 additional dental training places each year from 2027.
The University of Portsmouth and the University of East Anglia have each been allocated 25 new dental places.
These places are significant because both locations were selected partly because of local unmet dental need.
The government describes this as the first sustained expansion of dental school places in nearly 20 years.
New dental places from 2027
| Institution | New annual places | Start |
|---|---|---|
| University of Portsmouth | 25 | 2027 |
| University of East Anglia | 25 | 2027 |
| Total | 50 | 2027 |
The University of Portsmouth has stated that its new dental training places are backed by £11 million of government funding.
This investment is intended to support the infrastructure required to deliver dental education, including the facilities and clinical training environment needed for future dentists.
What Is the Long-Term Target for Dental Training?
The new dental school places form part of a much larger workforce strategy.
The NHS Long Term Workforce Plan set out an ambition to increase undergraduate dental training places by 40% from current levels to more than 1,100 places by 2031–32.
The government's dental recovery and reform plan also described an initial expansion to 1,000 undergraduate places by 2028–29, followed by further expansion towards more than 1,100 places by 2031–32.
This is important because dental workforce planning operates on a much longer timescale than NHS service demand.
A student entering dental school in 2027 will not become an independent dentist immediately. Undergraduate dental education takes several years, followed by postgraduate training and career development.
Therefore, today's investment is partly designed to address future workforce requirements rather than immediate vacancies.
Why Are New Dental Schools Being Built in Underserved Areas?
Increasing the overall number of dental graduates does not necessarily guarantee that every region will gain more dentists.
Dentists are more likely to establish professional and personal connections in areas where they train.
The government has therefore increasingly focused dental training expansion on areas where access to NHS dentistry is particularly difficult.
The new places at Portsmouth and UEA were selected with this geographical objective in mind. The government says the Office for Students prioritised areas that currently have limited dental training capacity, including rural and coastal communities.
This approach is designed to create a longer-term relationship between:
Dental education → local workforce → NHS access
It is a different strategy from simply increasing the number of places at existing dental schools.
What Is the Government Spending on Dental Education?
Government investment in dental training does not come through one single nationwide "dental training fund".
Instead, funding operates through several mechanisms.
In England, NHS England's education and training tariff provides funding for eligible clinical placements and dental training.
For 2025–26, the published undergraduate dental tariff is:
£37,652 per full-time equivalent placement, plus the applicable Market Forces Factor (MFF).
This tariff applies to undergraduate dental students within the Office for Students-approved annual intake target.
It is part of a wider funding framework involving:
- dental schools
- NHS clinical placement providers
- NHS England
- higher education institutions
- the Department of Health and Social Care
The funding supports the infrastructure and resources required to provide clinical education rather than simply representing a direct payment to individual students.
What Is the Dental Undergraduate Tariff?
The dental undergraduate tariff is an important part of how clinical dental education is funded in England.
For 2025–26, the tariff was set at £37,652 plus MFF per full-time equivalent dental undergraduate placement.
The tariff can contribute towards elements of clinical education such as:
- clinical facilities
- equipment
- dental materials
- PPE
- clinical teaching
- NHS induction
- clinical quality processes
- information governance
- student clinical placement activity
- assessment-related activities
The funding framework also distinguishes between responsibilities held by universities and those supported through the national dental undergraduate tariff.
This matters because expanding dental school places requires more than simply admitting additional students.
Universities and NHS providers need enough:
Teaching staff + clinics + equipment + patients + supervisors + placement capacity
to deliver safe clinical education.
Government Funding for Dental Core and Specialty Training
Investment is not limited to undergraduate dental education.
Postgraduate dental training is also supported through national education and training tariffs in England.
From 1 September 2025, NHS England introduced national tariff rates for eligible dental core and dental specialty training posts, replacing previous local arrangements.
For 2025–26, the published rates include:
| Training | Placement fee | Salary contribution |
|---|---|---|
| Dental Core Training | £6,207 + MFF | £32,856 nationally |
| Dental Specialty Training | £13,933 + MFF | £64,097 nationally |
London rates have different salary contributions.
These arrangements are important because expanding the number of undergraduate dental graduates also creates a need for sufficient postgraduate training capacity.
Why Dental Foundation Training Matters
Dental Foundation Training (DFT) is an important transition between dental school and professional practice.
For many UK graduates, DFT provides structured experience in general dental practice and is closely connected with progression into NHS dentistry.
Government evidence for the 2026–27 pay round notes that DFT plays a significant role in introducing graduate dentists to NHS general dental practice and is the main route for UK graduates to be accepted onto the NHS Performers List.
This makes DFT capacity a critical part of workforce planning.
There is little benefit in substantially increasing undergraduate dental places if sufficient postgraduate training opportunities are not available afterwards.
Is the Government Also Investing in Dental Professionals Other Than Dentists?
Yes.
The workforce strategy also recognises the role of dental therapists and hygienists.
The government's dental reform plan set out an ambition to increase dental therapy and dental hygiene undergraduate training places by 28% by 2028–29, followed by an expansion of 40% from current levels to more than 500 places by 2031–32.
This reflects a broader workforce model in which dentists are supported by a wider dental team.
Dental therapists and hygienists can undertake important elements of preventive and routine care, helping practices make better use of the skills available across the dental workforce.
Therefore, government investment in dental training is increasingly about expanding the whole dental team, rather than simply increasing the number of dentists.
What Is Happening With Overseas Dentist Registration?
Domestic dental training expansion is only one part of the workforce strategy.
The UK also has a large internationally qualified dentist population, and government policy has recognised that increasing examination capacity can allow qualified overseas dentists to enter the workforce more quickly.
In March 2026, the government announced additional capacity for the ORE and LDS examinations, stating that thousands of overseas-qualified dentists had been unable to practise because of limited examination capacity.
This is particularly important for the UK dental recruitment market.
There are two separate workforce strategies operating alongside each other:
Long-term domestic workforce growth
Train more dentists in the UK.
Shorter-term workforce expansion
Improve the pathway for eligible overseas-qualified dentists to complete registration and enter practice.
These strategies are complementary rather than mutually exclusive.
Why Overseas Dentists Still Matter to the UK Dental Workforce
Increasing UK dental school places is a long-term strategy.
It takes several years for a new dental student to become a qualified dentist.
Overseas-qualified dentists can potentially contribute to the workforce much sooner once they have successfully completed the appropriate registration process.
The government's 2026 announcement specifically highlighted the backlog of overseas dentists waiting for professional registration examinations and the need to increase examination capacity.
This has direct implications for dental recruitment.
For practices experiencing current vacancies, the future increase in UK graduates does not necessarily remove the need to recruit internationally qualified dentists today.
What Does the Investment Mean for NHS Dental Recruitment?
The impact on recruitment is likely to change over time.
In the short term
Dental practices will continue to rely on:
- existing UK-qualified dentists
- internationally qualified dentists
- locum dentists
- dental therapists
- hygienists
- wider dental care professionals
to meet current demand.
In the medium term
Greater examination capacity for overseas dentists could increase the number of internationally qualified dentists able to enter the UK workforce.
In the longer term
More UK-trained dentists should increase the domestic supply of newly qualified dentists.
However, the geographical distribution of those dentists will remain important.
A national increase in graduates does not automatically solve shortages in every town or region.
Will More Dental Training Places Solve the UK Dentist Shortage?
Not on their own.
Expanding training places is an important part of the solution, but workforce supply depends on several factors.
These include:
- number of graduates
- postgraduate training capacity
- retention
- working patterns
- NHS contract arrangements
- geographical distribution
- international recruitment
- retirement and workforce exits
- availability of suitable dental practice capacity
The government's own workforce strategy recognises the need to train, retain and reform the workforce rather than relying on one intervention.
The expansion of dental schools should therefore be viewed as a long-term workforce investment, not an immediate solution to every NHS dental access problem.
Could Government Investment Change the UK Dental Recruitment Market?
Yes, but the impact is likely to happen gradually.
More UK-trained dentists could eventually increase the supply of newly qualified candidates entering the employment market.
However, this does not necessarily mean that dental recruitment will become easy everywhere.
The strongest recruitment pressures are likely to remain in areas where:
- NHS access is poor
- fewer dentists choose to work
- population demand is high
- practices struggle to retain staff
- local socioeconomic conditions make recruitment more difficult
The government's decision to locate new dental training places in areas with significant unmet need is partly intended to address this geographical imbalance.
What Does This Mean for International Dentists?
The expansion of domestic training should not be interpreted as the UK moving away from international dentist recruitment.
The UK dental workforce currently includes a significant internationally qualified population, and the government is simultaneously increasing examination capacity for overseas dentists.
The March 2026 announcement specifically linked increased ORE and LDS capacity with bringing more overseas-qualified dentists into practice.
This creates an important distinction:
Domestic dental training expansion = long-term workforce supply
Overseas dentist registration = additional workforce capacity in the nearer term
For UK dental practices, both can remain important.
Financial Support for Dental Students and Clinical Placements
The cost of clinical placements can also create barriers for students, particularly when placements require travel or accommodation.
From the 2026–27 academic year, eligible healthcare students can receive upfront support towards travel and accommodation costs associated with clinical placements.
The government says the measure includes dental therapy and hygiene students and is intended to reduce the need for students to pay placement-related costs from their own pockets. It also aims to support rural and coastal placements where travel costs can be higher.
This is a smaller part of the overall dental workforce strategy, but it is relevant because workforce expansion depends on students being able to complete high-quality clinical placements across different settings.
Is This Really a UK-Wide Dental Training Investment?
This distinction is important.
Much of the current funding and training expansion discussed above applies specifically to England.
Dental education, workforce planning and NHS arrangements are devolved, meaning Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own systems, policies and funding arrangements.
For example, Northern Ireland announced an £8 million investment in general dental services in April 2026, including six additional Dental Foundation Training places.
Therefore, it is more accurate to describe the major dental school expansion discussed in this article as an England-focused government investment, while recognising that workforce investment is also taking place elsewhere in the UK.
This distinction is important for anyone researching UK dental workforce policy because England-only figures should not be presented as though they represent the entire UK.
2026–2027: The Key Dental Training Developments
The current period is particularly significant for dental workforce planning.
1. New dental training places
UEA and the University of Portsmouth will each receive 25 new dental places, creating 50 additional places annually from 2027.
2. Longer-term expansion
The government aims to increase undergraduate dental training places by 40% to more than 1,100 by 2031–32.
3. Increased ORE and LDS capacity
The government is increasing professional examination capacity to help internationally qualified dentists enter the workforce.
4. Greater postgraduate training support
England introduced national tariff arrangements for dental core and specialty training from September 2025.
5. More support for clinical placement costs
Eligible healthcare students can receive upfront travel and accommodation support from 2026–27.
Together, these changes show that the workforce strategy is operating across multiple stages:
Dental school → postgraduate training → registration → employment → retention
What Could This Mean for Dental Practices?
Dental practices should view government investment as a long-term change in the supply pipeline, rather than an immediate replacement for recruitment activity.
Practices should continue to focus on:
- competitive associate packages
- effective onboarding
- strong clinical support
- flexible working arrangements
- professional development
- good workplace culture
- retention
- workforce planning
At the same time, practices in underserved areas may benefit from being proactive about engaging with newly qualified dentists and training pathways.
Practices that build relationships with local training networks could potentially be better positioned to recruit future graduates.
What Does This Mean for Dental Recruitment Agencies?
For dental recruitment organisations, the changing training landscape creates both opportunities and challenges.
In the short term, international recruitment remains important because newly expanded UK dental school places will take years to translate into fully qualified dentists.
At the same time, increased domestic training capacity will gradually create a larger pool of UK-trained candidates.
This means recruitment strategies may increasingly need to cover both:
International dentist recruitment
and
UK graduate and early-career dentist recruitment
The geographical focus of new dental schools could also create stronger local recruitment pipelines in areas that historically struggled to attract dentists.
The Bigger Picture: Training More Dentists Is Only One Part of the Solution
The UK dental workforce challenge cannot be solved simply by increasing the number of students entering dental school.
A sustainable workforce requires a complete pipeline:
Stage 1 — Education
More dental school places and better-funded clinical education.
Stage 2 — Postgraduate training
Enough Dental Foundation Training, Dental Core Training and specialty training opportunities.
Stage 3 — Registration
Efficient pathways for UK and overseas-qualified dentists.
Stage 4 — Recruitment
Dental practices able to attract suitable dentists.
Stage 5 — Retention
Dentists choosing to remain in the NHS and in areas where workforce demand is highest.
Stage 6 — Workforce distribution
Ensuring dentists are available where patients need them most.
Government investment is therefore best understood as an attempt to strengthen the entire dental workforce pipeline, rather than simply increasing dental school admissions.
Frequently Asked Questions
How is the UK government investing in dental training?
The government is investing through increased dental school places, clinical education funding, postgraduate dental training tariffs, additional professional examination capacity and support for clinical placement costs. Much of the current detailed funding described in government documents applies specifically to England.
How many new dental training places are being created?
From 2027, the University of Portsmouth and the University of East Anglia are each due to receive 25 new dental training places, creating 50 additional places annually.
What is the government's long-term target for dental training?
The government aims to expand undergraduate dental training places by 40% to more than 1,100 places by 2031–32.
Why are new dental school places being created in Portsmouth and East Anglia?
The locations were selected partly because they have significant unmet dental need and are areas where access to NHS dentistry has been challenging. The strategy is intended to strengthen the future workforce in underserved communities.
How much is the undergraduate dental training tariff?
For England in 2025–26, the national undergraduate dental tariff is £37,652 plus the applicable Market Forces Factor per full-time equivalent placement.
Is the government increasing dental training for hygienists and therapists?
Yes. The government's dental workforce strategy includes expansion of undergraduate training places for dental therapy and hygiene, with an ambition for a 40% increase from current levels to more than 500 places by 2031–32.
Is the UK government increasing opportunities for overseas dentists?
Yes. In 2026, the government announced increased capacity for the ORE and LDS registration examinations to help more overseas-qualified dentists progress towards UK registration.
Will more dental school places immediately solve NHS dentist shortages?
No. Dental training takes several years, and workforce supply also depends on postgraduate training, retention, NHS employment, geographical distribution and international recruitment.
Does the investment apply to the whole UK?
Not all measures are UK-wide. Many of the major dental school and NHS England funding measures discussed here apply specifically to England. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own dental education and workforce policies.
What does the investment mean for dental recruitment?
In the short term, internationally qualified dentists and existing UK dentists will remain important to recruitment. Over the longer term, increased UK dental school capacity should expand the domestic supply of newly qualified dentists, particularly in regions targeted by the new training places.
Conclusion: What Does Government Investment Mean for UK Dentistry?
Government investment in dental training represents one of the most significant changes to the future UK dental workforce in recent years.
In England, the expansion of dental school places, including 50 new annual places from 2027 at Portsmouth and UEA, marks the first sustained expansion of dental school capacity in nearly two decades.
The longer-term ambition is even larger: undergraduate dental training places are intended to increase by 40% to more than 1,100 by 2031–32.
However, increasing training capacity is only one part of the solution.
The UK also needs sufficient postgraduate training, efficient registration pathways, attractive employment opportunities and effective retention strategies to turn additional training places into a stronger practising workforce.
For dental practices and recruiters, the key takeaway is that the UK dental workforce is being expanded on both sides of the pipeline: more dentists are being trained domestically, while additional capacity is being created for eligible overseas dentists to enter the profession.
That means the UK dental recruitment market is likely to continue evolving throughout 2026, 2027 and beyond.
