Dental Services: Children

The 10-Year Health Plan for England confirms that child dental health is a priority. The responsibility for commissioning primary care services, including National Health Service dentistry, to meet the needs of the local population has been delegated to integrated care boards across England.

1.8 million additional courses of NHS dental treatment have been delivered in the seven months between April to October 2025 compared to the corresponding months prior to the general election, nearly half of which were delivered to children. The data for York Central Constituencies shows that over 23,000 children were seen by an NHS dentist in the previous 12 months up to June 2025.

From April 2026, we began introducing a package of reforms, including a new course of treatment for fluoride varnish for children to be applied by suitably trained dental nurses in between regular check-ups. We will also increase remuneration for dentists for fissure sealants to support increased use of this effective treatment for primary prevention purposes.

We are also committed to fundamentally reforming the dental contract, with a focus on matching resources to need, improving access, promoting prevention, and rewarding dentists fairly, while enabling the whole dental team to work to the top of their capability.

We are committed to a further shift to prevention of ill health. Since 2025, we have invested over £42,000 for supervised toothbrushing in the City of York and over 2,900 free toothbrushing products have been donated so far as a result of our partnership with Colgate-Palmolive to support children in the most deprived areas. We are also currently working with Yorkshire Water on the potential to introduce community water fluoridation in the region, ahead of any public consultation on this matter.