Overview

• The Oral Health and Dental Strategy was approved at the ICB’s July board meeting to tackle post-pandemic backlogs in NHS dentistry
• It commits to delivering 109,000 additional urgent care appointments and more than 1,000 out-of-hours slots each year
• A network of Urgent Dental Access Centres will be established to cut waiting times for minor oral surgery and orthodontic services
• NHS 111’s Dental Clinical Assessment Service will be expanded through workforce growth to handle increased dental call volumes
• Targeted funding and new education and training schemes aim to support dental teams and improve access in the region’s most deprived communities