Dental Services: Special Educational Needs
The question
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many dentists are on the NHS register that specialise in treating children with special needs.
Answered by Stephen Kinnock
Community dental services (CDS) are commissioned on a local basis by integrated care boards and provide care to adults and children who may have difficulty accessing high street dental services due to their social, medical, or dental needs. This may include children and young people with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND).
NHS England published findings from its December 2024 dental workforce data collection on 17 July 2025, including a community dental subset. Approximately 640 dentists working within CDS services in England submitted a return. However, not all CDS provision is covered by the General Dental Services contracts or Personal Dental Services agreements in scope of the data collection. Consequently, this does not constitute a full picture of staff providing CDS in the National Health Service in England.
Children and young people with SEND may not require care in CDS and some will instead be seen in high street dental practices.
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