Morale of general dental practitioners has fallen steadily over the past decade at the same time as declining income levels, according to official data released by NHS Digital.

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The official figures paint a worrying picture of a profession losing confidence, earning less and struggling to meet the needs of patients with less time spent on clinical work – a situation described by the BDA as a system 'running on fumes'.

The data1 from NHS Digital published on 30 August 2018 showed that NHS dentists in England and Wales had experienced a 35% pay squeeze over the last decade.

Real incomes for practice-owning dentists fell by as much as £47,000, and their associates by more than £23,000 over the last decade.

In 2016-17, there was a 0.7% drop in taxable income of self-employed dentists (Providing-Performer and Performer Only dentists) in England and Wales from £69,200 in 2015-16 to £68,700 in 2016-17.

In 2016-17, there was a 4.3% decrease in taxable income of self-employed dentists (Principal and Associate dentists) in Northern Ireland, from £69,400 in 2015-16 to £66,400 in 2016-17.

However, in Scotland, 2016-17 saw a 0.1% increase in taxable income of self-employed dentists from £67,700 in 2015-16 to £67,800 in 2016-17.

Other data2 on dental working hours, working patterns, motivation and morale published at the same time showed that morale has fallen to lowest levels since 2000.

Morale described as 'high' or 'very high' in 2016-17 was only found in a fifth (20.1%) of principals and a quarter (24.9%) of associates.

In contrast, morale recorded as 'low' or 'very low' was 56% for principals and 48.1% for associates.

Growing disillusionment with the job was evident as the figures showed that almost two thirds (62.7%) of principal dentists in England and Wales said they often thought about leaving general dental practice in 2017-18 compared to 57.2% in 2015-16.

More than half (56.1%) of associate dentists said they often thought of leaving in 2017-18 compared to 47.6% in 2015-16.

A similar pattern was evident in Scotland where 69.3% of principal dentists said they often thought of leaving in 2017-18 compared to 57.1% in 2015-16 while 57.1% of associate dentists considered leaving in 2017-18 compared to 45.9% in 2015-16. Northern Ireland's dentists had similar opinions.

The time spent on clinical work rather than administration or management has also been reducing as the data showed that in 2017-18, dentists in England and Wales spent, on average, 77.2% of their time on clinical work – a decrease from 85.4% in 2008-09. Similar trends were apparent in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

BDA Chair of General Dental Practice Henrik Overgaard-Nielsen said: 'Austerity is meant to be over, but across the UK NHS dentistry is running on fumes. We've seen a drop in real incomes without precedent in the public sector. The results are predictable, morale at an all-time low, recruitment and retention problems mounting, as patients wait longer or travel further for care.'