PRESS RELEASE
27 May 2009

CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT WILL RESTORE NHS DENTISTS TO MILLIONS

 MALCOLM MOSS MP IS PLEASED TO SUPPORT THE CONSERVATIVE PARTIES COMMITMENT TO IMPROVED DENTAL CARE

North East Cambridgeshire MP Malcolm Moss has given his support to Conservative plans for improvements in dental care. Access to dentists has declined since the Government’s new dental contract was introduced in 2006, patient outcomes have worsened considerably, and the dental profession feels rightly disenfranchised.

The provision to register patients was abolished by Ministers with the Government’s contract in 2006, which means that a patient not actively undergoing a course of dental treatment is without an NHS dentist. Conservatives will abolish the current bureaucratic contract, and use two stages of innovative reform designed to tackle the long-term drivers of bad oral health and the rising cost of remedial treatments.

Malcolm Moss MP said:

‘I am delighted to support the reforms outlined recently by Conservatives this week to substantively address the problems with access to NHS dentists. These reforms will drive down cost and allow many more patients to access an NHS dentist, with the aim of increasing capacity so that patients can once again register with a practitioner who will be responsible for their oral health.’

A Conservative Government will:

Restore access to an NHS dentist for the million patients who have lost it under Labour’s failed system by slashing bureaucracy and cutting waste;

Create new incentives for dentists to spend more time on preventative dental care, improving oral health and reducing long term costs;

Using money currently spent on carrying out unnecessary treatments, we would instead reintroduce dental screening for children in schools, so that children aged 5 would have their oral health addressed;

Give dentists the freedom to charge patients who repeatedly miss appointments;

Ensure that taxpayer-trained dentists work for the NHS for at least five years.

Mike Penning MP, Shadow Minister for Health said:

‘Labour’s dental legacy is one of failure – failure that will be difficult to correct. However, a Conservative Government, as announced by Andrew Lansley this week, is committed to NHS dentistry. Our plans will create real incentives for dentists to help people avoid tooth decay, so that we can cut the shocking rise in the number of people needing drastic treatments like extractions.’