A new report on delivering change in NHS dentistry was revealed by Health Secretary John Reid recently. Under the reforms the equivalent of 1,000 dentists will be recruited by October 2005 with 650 of these being new recruits, either from home or abroad.

They will be recruited through a number of routes, such as dentists increasing their level of commitment to the NHS, attracting dentists to return to the NHS from career breaks by a better deal and more flexible working, recruiting via an international recruitment programme, targeting dentists from the EU and by speeding up the process for overseas dentists to register to work in the UK.

The Government will also fund 170 extra undergraduate dental training places in England from October 2005, a capital investment of £80m over four years to support this expansion and by 2005/6, NHS dentistry will receive extra funding of over £250m a year. It adds that in recognition of the additional work and training dentists and their practice staff will need to prepare for changes, an extra £9 million will be provided to help dental practices prepare.

Reforms will be introduced to modernise the dentistry profession for the 21st century through a new dentists contract making it possible for them to spend more time with patients and encourage preventative care, using the skills of the entire dental team more efficiently. New roles for hygienists and dental nurses and local Primary Care Trusts (PCTs) will use the £1.6 billion devolved budget to ensure that local expenditure on dentistry is sustained.