DENTISTRY reforms in England that will see dentists paid more to treat patients in urgent need are not the “end of the road,” experts and campaigners have warned.

The government published the reforms today, following a consultation, saying the changes could help millions of patients.

Under the plans, dentists will be incentivised to offer more urgent NHS appointments to people suffering severe pain, infections or dental trauma. 

Patients who require complex treatment, such as care for severe gum disease or widespread decay, will also be able to receive a single course of treatment, rather than having care split across multiple appointments. 

The government said this could save patients around £225.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said the interim reforms could offer some relief for patients and practitioners, but it warned that they were not the “wholesale change required to save the struggling service.”

It said the package had “no new money behind it” and stressed that longer-term reform would depend on proper investment to make NHS dentistry financially sustainable and restore access for millions of patients.

In a statement, it said the dental budget had “remained effectively static” since the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government took power in 2010, with “savage real-terms cuts” leaving practices delivering routine NHS treatments at a loss. 

It added that nearly 14 million adults in England currently have an unmet need for NHS dentistry.

BDA chairman Shiv Pabary described the changes being announced as “the biggest tweaks this failed contract has seen in its history,” adding: “We do hope changes can make things easier for practices and patients in the interim, but this cannot be the end of the road.

“We need a response proportionate to the challenges we face, to give NHS dentistry a sustainable future.”

Toothless in England’s Mark Jones said that the “clock is ticking” on the dental crises, warning that patients could not endure months more pain while waiting for reforms.

“At its heart, this is a crisis of capacity utterly failing to keep pace with demand,” he said. 

“Simply reallocating limited resources won’t fix it.”

Mr Jones called for faster action, including contract reform and mobile NHS dental clinics, particularly in rural and coastal areas.

The reforms form part of wider government plans for NHS dentistry, as new figures show that tooth decay levels among adults and children remain alarmingly high.