Too many graduates, but not enough NHS dentists?

As MPs begin hearing evidence on England’s student loan system, new data on public attitudes to higher education raises a specific question for dentistry: is NHS dentistry making full use of the clinicians it trains?

The latest British Social Attitudes (BSA) data from the National Centre for Social Research found that 77% of people in England believe a university degree does not represent good value for money.

Dentistry would seem an obvious exception. Dental school places remain highly competitive – it was announced today (3 June) that 50 new dental school places would be divided between the University of Portsmouth and the University of East Anglia. The link between training and labour market need is well established, and long-term earnings potential is strong.

The profession’s challenge is where that value is realised.

For clinicians who move into private or mixed practice, the return on five years of training and significant student debt is easier to sustain. For those who remain committed to NHS dentistry, the financial and workload pressures created by the contract make that calculation more difficult.

British Dental Association (BDA) surveys have repeatedly highlighted the pressure on NHS dentists. In 2024, the BDA said morale among NHS dentists in England was at an all-time low, with 64% of practice owners and 61% of associate dentists thinking of leaving NHS dentistry.

NHS retention, not graduate supply

The BSA data also found that 42% of people believe there are too many recent graduates in the job market. Among graduates themselves, this rises to 49%.

Dentistry sits awkwardly against that finding. Patients in many parts of the country continue to face restricted access to NHS care, while the profession struggles to retain clinicians within NHS dentistry.

There are plenty of dental graduates, yet not enough able or willing to sustain long-term careers in NHS dentistry.

Expanding dental school places is a welcome and necessary step. But doing so only addresses the pipeline, not the destination. If the NHS contract remains unreformed, more graduates will qualify into the same structural constraints that have driven experienced clinicians away from NHS dentistry.

British Dental Association chair Eddie Crouch said: ‘New dental schools are a step forward but are no silver bullet for ending dental deserts. Keeping even this tiny number of new graduates in the NHS hinges on making the service a place dentists would choose to build a career. That means real reform, wedded to sustainable funding.’

The public’s scepticism about graduate returns is, for most degrees, a generalised concern. In NHS dentistry, it has a specific and well-documented basis.

As Parliament reviews the student loan system, policymakers must ask themselves whether the cost of training still makes sense against the increasingly inhospitable reality of a career in NHS dental service.

Follow Dentistry.co.uk on Instagram to keep up with the latest news and trends.