Crowning glory Experts sink their teeth into solving England's NHS dentistry crisis

Amid renewed concern over the millions of people in England who cannot get NHS dental care, and a warning that the current "dental recovery plan" will not work, ministers are drawing up their own proposals to tackle what is widely agreed to be a crisis.

- Denis Campbell

Here experts set out four ideas for how to revive NHS dentistry and help patients get the care they need without paying for it privately, as many do now, or undertaking "DIY dentistry", such as pulling our rotten teeth themselves.

1 Give everyone a GP-style right to register with an NHS dentist Patients used to have a right to register with and be treated by an NHS dentist, in the same way that they could and still can, with a GP surgery. However, that right was removed in 2006.

The guaranteed access system was replaced with one where, under a new dental contract, dentists were paid by "unit of dental activity" (UDA) - care and treatment - rather than being paid an agreed sum in lieu of the care they provided when needed to every person registered with them.

"People are also confused about the relationship between an NHS dentist and patients, with many mistakenly believing they can register with a dentist permanently - a right they lost in 2006 when the current contract was introduced," explains Louise Ansari, the chief executive of Healthwatch England, the NHS patient watchdog. She added: "We urge the government to base their plans to improve NHS dentistry on the principle of giving people the right to register permanently with a dental practice, as they do with an NHS GP."

The 2006 change is a key reason for the loss of general access to NHS dental care and it is time to go back to the old system, she believes.