The British Dental Association has lamented the wholesale lack of clarity from Government over plans to save NHS dentistry.

In the Opposition Day Debate on 9 January, the Government restated its ambition to provide access for all but offered no clarity on how to achieve that goal.

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Ministers even attempted to sidestep the collapse in NHS dentist numbers since lockdown by comparing contemporary figures to those seen in 2010/11.

A Recovery Plan pledged last Spring remains undelivered, and the Government has rejected the key recommendation from the Health and Social Care Committee - to make a clean break from the discredited contract fuelling the exodus from the workforce.

The Nuffield Trust warned last month the service faces the gravest crisis in its 75-year history, and universal access to care may be dead without radical reform and investment.

BDA Chair Eddie Crouch said: ‘When we needed clarity, the Government provided a full gamut of platitudes and half-truths. Ministers keep saying they want an NHS dentist for everyone. There is still no evidence of any plan to make that happen.'