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Written question asked by Sarah Pochin (Reform UK) on Monday, 15 June 2026, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 17 June 2026. It was answered by Stephen Kinnock (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 July 2026 on behalf of the Department of Health and Social Care.

Dentistry: Labour Turnover

Question

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS dentists have ceased providing NHS services in each of the last five years.

Answer

National Health Service dental statistics identify dentists who performed NHS dental activity in a given financial year.

The annual NHS dental statistics published by the NHS Business Services Authority show the number of dentists who performed any amount of NHS dental activity in England in the last five financial years. This shows that 24,655 dentists performed NHS work in 2024/25.

Within these statistics a ‘leaver’ is defined as a performer who carried out NHS dental activity in the previous financial year but none in the following year. A joiner is defined as a performer who carried out NHS dental activity in the specified year but none in the previous year.

These data do not show whether a dentist has permanently left NHS practice, as a dentist may return in a later year.

The following table shows the number of dentist leavers and joiners for each year from 2020/21 to 2024/25:

Financial year

Leavers

Joiners

2020/21

2,342

1,399

2021/22

1,412

1,944

2022/23

2,002

1,888

2023/24

1,929

2,085

2024/25

1,865

2,213

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
9973
Session
2026-27
Subjects
Dentistry Labour turnover
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk