Plans by the Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock to create a NHS that focuses on prevention of ill health have been met with little enthusiasm by dentist and other health leaders.

Hancock made a speech on 5 November 2018 and published a policy paper1 in which he set out his plans to put prevention at the heart of the nation's health with a mission to improve healthy life expectancy so that, by 2035, people would enjoy at least five extra years of healthy, independent life, whilst closing the gap between the richest and poorest.

The document says primary care – meaning general practice, community pharmacy, dental, and optometry services – was a central part of the health secretary's vision, and refers briefly to improving oral health of children.

It says: 'Improving dental health in children, which remains a problem in some communities. Tooth extraction is a significant and unnecessary burden on children.'

However, the BDA was unimpressed, saying the document failed to meaningfully engage on wholly preventable oral diseases like tooth decay.

The trade union said tooth decay was the number one reason for hospital admissions for children aged 5-9, and paediatric extractions have cost the NHS £165 million on extractions in hospitals since 2012 – but neither of these facts had been acknowledged or addressed in the government paper.

In addition, deep and preventable oral health inequalities persisted in both child and adult populations, said the BDA, pointing out that in the last five years, the Government's spend per head on NHS dentistry had fallen from £40.95 to £36, while patient charges had increased by over 23%.

A BDA spokesperson said: 'The Government's centrepiece Starting Well oral health programme, which is targeting high needs children, has not received a penny of new investment, and is operating in parts of just 13 local authorities in England.'

BDA Chair Mick Armstrong said: 'The Health Secretary says he wants to champion prevention. Sadly he's had more to say about broccoli than wholly preventable oral diseases that are costing our NHS millions.

'When tooth decay remains the number one reason for child hospital admissions, treating dentistry as an afterthought looks more than careless. England's huge oral health inequalities are fuelled by poverty and the lack of a coherent strategy.

'The starting point for any solution won't be “Big Data” or Apps, it requires political will from Westminster and an end to year on year cuts.'

The British Medical Association (BMA) welcomed the intention of the paper, but questioned how it would be achieved, calling for public health prevention to be a priority.

BMA public health committee chair, Dr Peter English, said: 'While the plans outlined in this paper are a welcome step, the government must be realistic about what must be required in order to deliver this.

'There is a need to reverse the cuts to public health budgets, as in many areas, public health services do not adequately meet the health needs of the local population. Reductions to services such as smoking cessation and sexual health in some areas are directly contributing to unacceptable variations in the quality and quantity of care available to the population.'

Niall Dickson, Chief Executive of the NHS Confederation, which represents organisations across the healthcare sector, said: 'Preventing illness and disease is huge area with enormous potential – much of it extending well beyond the NHS.

'We need to support interventions that have been shown to work – from drugs that prevent strokes and heart disease, to tackling obesity among children.

'Of course, we have been here before and the recent record of cutting public health spending must now be reversed.'