Extra 100,000 child dental appointments, says Labour

The Labour Party will vow to create an extra 100,000 urgent dental appointments for children in a bid to clear backlogs in England.

- STORM NEWTON

The party’s Child Health Action Plan will also propose the introduction of supervised brushing to bolster the dental health of youngsters.

The additional appointments will be delivered on evenings and weekends, according to the proposals, which will be announced by Sir Keir Starmer during a visit to the North East of England today.

A Labour government would also double the number of NHS scanners by investing in new, artificial intelligence-enabled equipment, the party said, as well as reforming the dental contract and bringing in signing-on bonuses to recruit dentists to areas in need.

The proposals will cost £109m a year, Labour said, and will be funded by clamping down on tax dodgers and tightening up the rules on non-domiciled people. The party claims there will be 5 million fewer dentistry appointments over the next five years if the Conservatives win the general election.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting added: “What a tragic indictment on the state of NHS dentistry under the Conservatives, that children are ashamed to speak because of the state of their teeth. Labour will provide an extra 100,000 appointments for children a year and supervised toothbrushing for three-to-five-year-olds, to put a smile back on kids’ faces.”