Thousands of NHS dental patients moved to private plans

This compares to 3,169 over a three-year period from 2019 to 2021, although some data was unavailable in these years for some health board regions.

The true scale of the issue will be even larger as not all health board record figures for patients leaving the NHS in this way.

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The responses cover only six health board areas - Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Tayside, Highland, Forth Valley, Lanarkshire and Ayrshire & Arran - so some other large health boards such as Lothian and Grampian are missing.

Since the pandemic, a growing number of high street dental surgeries across Scotland have been closing their NHS lists to new patients or opting out of providing NHS dental services to adult patients.

In many cases this means patients are left with the choice to leave the practice or sign up to private dental plans where they have to pay a monthly fee which usually guarantees them a fixed number of annual check-ups and scale and polish sessions plus access to any necessary dental work such as fillings and extractions on a private basis.

Some patients who cannot afford the fees have found themselves de-registered from practices, but unable to find a replacement NHS dentist within their area.

Previous research has found that one in five dental practices in Scotland were not accepting new NHS patients.

Data from the six health boards which collect the figures shows a steep increase since the pandemic in patients being de-registered from NHS for private dental plans (Image: FOI: NHS/ScottishLabour)

Separate FOI data shows that the number of patients de-registering from NHS dental lists exceeded 385,000 between the beginning of 2022 and mid-2024, compared to around 44,000 in 2020 and 2021.

As well as being switched to private dental plans, patients can also be de-registered from NHS lists if they have die, relocate to another dental practice, or have failed to pay for the costs of prior NHS treatment, though these would not explain the dramatic increase.

Scottish Labour, who obtained the data from health boards, said the situation meant some patients were "handing over their savings in agony" because they had been left with no option except private dental care.

While a patient will pay £12.72 towards a small silver filling on the NHS, the same procedure done privately will typically start around £75.

Similarly, a patient getting root canal treatment on back teeth on the NHS will be charged £153.48 but is likely to pay upwards of £450 privately.

Likewise, a partial acrylic denture starts at £117 on the NHS but well over £500 if it is done privately.

NHS dental fees have increased in the past year as part of efforts to boost NHS activity and cut waiting lists (Image: Getty)

Paul Sweeney, Scottish Labour’s spokesman for dentistry, said: “The fact that patients are suddenly paying quadruple the cost for dentistry in a cost-of-living crisis suggests Scots are handing over their life savings and pensions just to get the treatment they desperately need to relieve themselves of severe pain.

“This is what privatisation looks like – those who can, pay for a private dentist; those who can’t, suffer without access to an NHS dentist when they need it.

“A number of my constituents in Glasgow are suffering in agony without access to an NHS dentist and I know how desperate they are for relief from their dental pain – but they should not have to choose between paying for a private dentist or having no dentist at all.

“NHS dental care has rotted away under the SNP when we need to be encouraging more dentists to work for the NHS so that everyone is able to register as an NHS patient.” 

According to the FOI responses, NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde - Scotland's largest health board - has recorded 15,347 patients leaving the NHS dental register for private plans since 2022.

This was followed by NHS Lanarkshire, where the figure is 7,088.

In November 2023, the Scottish Government introduced a revised payments system which increased the fees for NHS dental procedures. 

Glasgow MSP Paul Sweeney, Scottish Labour's dental spokesman, said some constituents are struggling to see a dentist on the NHS

The move was designed to encourage dental practices to stay in the NHS and spend more time on NHS work to help bring down waiting lists. 

Dentists complained that the previous fees were to low to cover the costs of some procedures, and that spiralling overhead costs could only be covered by increasing their private workload. 

A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We are improving access to NHS dentistry following disruption from the pandemic, and have implemented significant NHS dental payment reform following extensive discussion with the sector.

"This has been well-received, with one million patients seen by an NHS dentist in the first three months of 2024, and we continue to work closely with NHS Boards in areas where access is proving more challenging.

“We are also engaging with our counterparts across the UK on initiatives to increase our dental workforce capacity through review and improvement to international pipelines.”