Toothless in England

31/07/2026

🦷 Ipswich.co.uk are on the case!

Toothless in England: A campaign group has called on the newly merged NHS Norfolk and Suffolk Integrated Care Board (ICB) to explain millions of pounds in unspent dental funding and set out a plan to improve access for patients.

Read the full story here: https://www.ipswich.co.uk/toothless-in-england-dental-campaign-challenges-new-nhs-board/

29/07/2026

🦷 Toothless in England 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐟𝐟𝐨𝐥𝐤 𝐈𝐂𝐁: 𝐌𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐜𝐥𝐚𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤, 𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐡𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐱𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐝 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐇𝐒 𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐲

Toothless in England has today called on the Norfolk and Suffolk Integrated Care Board to confront the scale of dental failure across both counties and to deliver a clear plan that turns evidence and funding into actual care for patients.

The new ICB was established on 1 April 2026, merging the former Suffolk and North East Essex and Norfolk and Waveney boards. The campaign says it now inherits both the problems and the responsibility to fix them.

The evidence is stark.

In Suffolk, the county’s own 2025 Oral Health Profile shows that only 37.9% of adults were seen by an NHS dentist in a 24-month period. Access is worst in Mid Suffolk (27.9%), Babergh (30.1%) and West Suffolk (35.1%). More than 108,000 residents cannot reach an NHS dental service within 30 minutes by public transport.

In Norfolk, the 2022 Oral Health review and later data showed children lagging behind the national average for being seen by a dentist, while only 34% of adults were seen in a recent 24-month period. One in five Norfolk five-year-olds still has tooth decay, and the county continues to be described as a “dental desert.”

At the same time, huge sums allocated for dentistry went unspent or were clawed back.

Former Suffolk and North East Essex ICB: £10.2 million clawed back in 2023/24 and £8.6 million in 2024/25. A £700,000 allocation for mobile dental provision was never used for a general mobile service.

Former Norfolk and Waveney ICB: underspends reported at approximately £16.5 million (2022/23), with later figures of £18.3 million and a £7.8 million underspend in 2024/25.

These are not minor accounting adjustments. They represent millions of pounds that should have been delivering NHS dental care while patients across both counties were left in pain, forced to travel long distances, or go without.

The consequences are serious: children having teeth extracted in hospital under general anaesthetic, oral cancers going undetected because people cannot get routine check-ups, and adults living for years with untreated infection and pain.

Patients are still living with the consequences. Recent accounts from people in Norfolk and Suffolk continue to describe years-long waits, practices closed to new NHS patients, and the reliance on charity mobile clinics for basic treatment. One Gorleston patient this year finally received care from a Dentaid mobile clinic after a six-year wait, describing it as a “godsend” in an area called the “Sahara of dental deserts.”

The campaign recognises that the previous ICBs took some steps – including extra urgent appointments, services for vulnerable groups, and the start of procurement for additional capacity in a small number of underserved areas. These efforts are welcome but have not solved the core problem: the lack of ongoing, local NHS dental care for ordinary patients in the places with the worst access.

There is a growing tendency to say that nothing significant can change until the government reforms the failed GDS dental contract. The contract is broken – we agree – and has twice been found unfit for purpose by Westminster health committees. But that cannot be used as a reason for local inaction.

The ICB already has powers and resources it can use: targeting the lowest-access districts, deploying mobile provision, bringing mothballed facilities back into use, commissioning experienced mobile providers, and reinvesting clawed-back funds transparently into local capacity. Waiting for national reform is not a substitute for using the tools already available.

Mark Jones, of Toothless in England, said: “The new Norfolk & Suffolk ICB has a clean slate and a clear choice. It can continue the pattern of large underspends, limited transparency, and heavy reliance on urgent care while waiting for national reform, or it can treat the oral health evidence seriously and put money into restoring proper NHS dentistry where people live.

“Patients in Mid Suffolk, Babergh, West Suffolk, rural Norfolk and coastal communities have waited long enough. The data is there. The money was there. What has been missing is the determination to turn both into actual appointments and ongoing care. Toothless in England is a non-party political campaigning organisation and remains ready to discuss practical solutions with county councillors and the ICB. The campaign will continue to press for measurable results for the patients still locked out of care.”

Toothless in England is calling on the Norfolk and Suffolk ICB to:
- Publish a formal response to the Suffolk 2025 Oral Health Profile and the available Norfolk oral health evidence.
- Provide full transparency on recent dental underspend and clawback across both former ICB areas.
- Set out a timed plan to increase routine NHS dental capacity in the lowest-access districts and rural/coastal communities.
- Explain what happened to the unused mobile dental funding and how equivalent resources will be used.
- Report publicly on the number of additional patients actually able to access ongoing NHS dental care – not just urgent appointments commissioned.

28/07/2026

🦷 Our campaign work continues.

21/07/2026

🦷 𝑶𝒑𝒆𝒏 𝑳𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒇𝒓𝒐𝒎 𝑻𝒐𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒍𝒆𝒔𝒔 𝒊𝒏 𝑬𝒏𝒈𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝑷𝒓𝒊𝒎𝒆 𝑴𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝑨𝒏𝒅𝒚 𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒉𝒂𝒎 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑯𝒆𝒂𝒍𝒕𝒉 𝑺𝒆𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒚 𝒀𝒗𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒆 𝑪𝒐𝒐𝒑𝒆𝒓

Dear Prime Minister Andy Burnham and Secretary of State Yvette Cooper,

Congratulations on your appointments.

As patient campaigners who have fought for over five years for the simple right to an NHS dentist, we welcome the change in leadership and the opportunity for a fresh approach.

However, we write to urge you in the strongest terms that a paradigm shift in the government’s approach to the dental crisis must be an immediate priority.

Patient needs have been ignored for far too long under successive governments, and further delays or incremental tweaks are no longer acceptable.

Toothless in England is a national, volunteer-led, grassroots campaign demanding “An NHS dentist for everyone.”

We represent patients across England — particularly in rural and coastal communities — who have been abandoned: people pulling their own teeth in desperation, parents forced to use pliers on children’s teeth, families unable to smile in photos, entire areas turned into dental deserts, and rising cases of mouth cancer going undiagnosed or diagnosed too late due to lack of access.

NHS dentistry is not a luxury — it is a critical public health service. Good oral health improves general health, reduces pressure on the wider NHS, supports the economy, and prevents untold suffering.

Prime Minister, your experience as former Health Secretary, your long-standing commitment to NHS reform with an emphasis on prevention and early intervention, and your record tackling health inequalities position you uniquely to lead this change.

We note your promises on the steps of No. 10 yesterday: building a “more preventative state,” investing in people’s success rather than paying for failure, helping people “to live well,” devolving power, collaborative problem-solving, and putting “the care of people at the heart of everything” you do.

These align perfectly with what patients desperately need in dentistry. We are not giving up on our demand for an NHS dentist for everyone — and neither should you. Your 10-year plan and “circuit breaker” moment must include meaningful dental reform from the outset.

Secretary of State, patient needs continue to be ignored. The current contract distorts care and fails to deliver.

Funding constraints and systemic issues cannot be excuses when millions suffer, especially in rural and coastal communities left without local NHS provision. The shift toward private and mixed practices leaves the most vulnerable behind. We cannot accept a postcode lottery or continued privatisation by stealth.

In line with our Six-Point Charter, and as part of our long-standing campaign for mobile dental clinics to reach underserved areas, we call on you both to:

• Guarantee an NHS dentist for everyone, ending the crisis of access in rural, coastal, and underserved areas.
• Deliver fundamental reform of the NHS dental contract, moving beyond outdated targets to a system that truly supports prevention, routine care, and patient needs.
• Provide adequate funding and resources so practices can sustainably deliver NHS care without forcing patients into private treatment or debt.
• Prioritise prevention and early intervention to improve oral health outcomes, reduce inequalities, and ease pressure on the wider NHS.
• Tackle dental deserts through targeted action and devolution, ensuring equitable access regardless of postcode.
• Restore NHS dentistry as a core public service that puts patients first, reversing the stealth privatisation that has denied affordable care to more than half the population.

We would welcome the opportunity to meet with you, Secretary of State, at the earliest convenient time to discuss these issues in more detail and share the lived experiences of patients we represent.

You have spoken of raising your game, bringing back hope, and a new political model centred on people.

The dental crisis is a visible failure of the old model, felt acutely in communities across the country. Act boldly now — patients cannot wait.

As always, we stand ready to engage constructively and will continue amplifying patient voices until every person in England has access to an NHS dentist.

We look forward to your urgent response and action.

Yours sincerely,
Toothless in England

15/07/2026

🦷 Fabulous shots! 📷
Massive thank you to local photographers Jim Vernwood and Debra Bennett, Bottisham & Burwell Photographic Club and Cambridge Camera Club members, for capturing us campaigning in Cambridge on Sunday. Really appreciate you taking the time and for sending them into us. 🙏

12/07/2026

🦷 Flossy was out and about in Cambridge earlier today. It’s getting to the point where she might need her own social media account given the amount of attention she gets from the public 😃 Toothless in Huntingdon Toothless in Cambridge

08/07/2026

🦷 OTD 2024, when we made the news on French TV 🇫🇷https://www.facebook.com/englandsteeth/videos/334724193022460/

05/07/2026

🦷 Today, 5 July, we mark 78 years since the NHS was born — founded on the bold promise of medical, dental, and nursing care for all.

Yet here we are, more than five years into the Toothless in England campaign, still asking the same urgent question: What has changed?

For millions of patients, the honest answer remains: little to nothing fundamental.
• Adult access to NHS dentistry hovers around 40% — worse than pre-pandemic.
• Real-terms funding has fallen ~16% since 2014/15.
• Last year alone, over 33,000 children needed hospital tooth extractions due to preventable decay — one every 15 minutes. 

The outdated 2006 contract continues to drive dentists away. Dental deserts have spread. Families endure pain, DIY extractions, or unaffordable private care. This is not the NHS the post-war generation built and fought for.

Toothless in England — born from local desperation in Suffolk and grown into a national grassroots force — has played a key role in dragging this crisis into the political spotlight. We’ve amplified thousands of patient stories, submitted evidence to Parliament, sparked media coverage, and built a network of local groups that refuse to let this issue fade. We’ve made sure politicians can’t ignore the human cost.

We welcome pragmatic steps under the current government — extra urgent appointments, prevention initiatives, and proposals like graduate tie-ins for underserved areas. These are positive, but bandaids alone won’t restore the founding promise.

After seven Health Secretaries and multiple failed plans, the system is still crumbling for ordinary patients.

On this NHS anniversary, we call on ministers and MPs across all parties: Honour the vision of 1948. Deliver fundamental contract reform, fair funding, and real retention incentives so every community has an NHS dentist.

Patients and professionals share the same goal. We’ve kept this crisis visible and impossible to ignore for over five years. Now it’s time to turn reflection into real delivery — an NHS dentist for everyone, not as an aspiration, but as the reality the NHS was created to provide.

What’s your story on this anniversary? Share it below. Tag your MP. Join or start a local group. Let’s keep the pressure on and turn awareness into action.

03/07/2026

🦷 𝐓𝐨𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐄𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐆𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐍𝐇𝐒 𝐃𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐥 𝐓𝐢𝐞-𝐈𝐧 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐃𝐀 𝐎𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

Toothless in England, the national patient-led campaign that has been demanding an NHS dentist for everyone for five years, today welcomed the government’s commitment to NHS dental tie-ins for new graduates and expressed disagreement with the British Dental Association’s (BDA) opposition to the plan.

While acknowledging that tie-ins are not a complete fix for the longstanding crisis in NHS dentistry, the campaign believes they represent a vital practical step to ensure newly qualified dentists serve underserved communities desperate for care.

Mark Jones, Founder of Toothless in England, said: “The NHS was created to provide all medical, dental, and nursing care. When patients are left in agony and entire communities become dental deserts, we cannot afford to reject practical steps like graduate tie-ins that put newly qualified dentists to work where they are needed most.”

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗖𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗶𝘀 𝗗𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝗨𝗿𝗴𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗔𝗰𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

NHS dentistry in England remains in a state of collapse. Millions cannot access an NHS dentist, leaving vast “dental deserts” across the country. Patients endure pain, emergency extractions, and serious long-term health consequences, with children and vulnerable groups hit hardest. After five years of relentless grassroots campaigning, incremental changes and voluntary incentives have failed to resolve workforce shortages in the areas that need them most.

The government’s tie-in proposal — requiring a period of NHS work after graduation, with details subject to consultation — directly addresses this by ensuring public investment in dental education delivers tangible public benefit, especially in underserved regions. The plan applies to those starting courses from 2027/28 while protecting current students.

𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗼𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗕𝗗𝗔 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗿𝗻𝘀

The BDA has argued that tie-ins will deter dentists from NHS careers by turning the service into a temporary obligation, potentially reducing long-term participation.

Toothless in England respects these professional concerns around morale and retention. However, the campaign stresses that the status quo has already failed patients. The tie-in can serve as a bridge while essential contract reforms, fairer pay, and improved workforce planning are delivered.

“After five years of hearing directly from patients left in pain, their urgent needs must be central to this debate,” the campaign notes. “We support lasting reform, but we cannot let the search for a perfect long-term solution delay action that would start bringing relief now to the communities that have waited far too long.”

𝗔 𝗣𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗦𝘁𝗲𝗽 𝗙𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱

Toothless in England agrees with the BDA that fundamental reform of the NHS dental contract is essential for long-term sustainability. Tie-ins must complement — not replace — measures to improve pay, reduce bureaucracy, and create attractive careers in the NHS.

Rejecting the proposal outright would only prolong suffering for patients who cannot wait. A targeted early-career NHS commitment is a fair return on taxpayer-funded training and can help correct the imbalance that sees new graduates cluster in more affluent areas.

𝗖𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗖𝗼𝗹𝗹𝗮𝗯𝗼𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻

Toothless in England urges the BDA and the government to work collaboratively on the details of the tie-in. The campaign stands ready to participate fully in the anticipated government consultation, contributing the voices and experiences of patients nationwide to help design a policy that effectively directs new dentists to areas of greatest need while supporting sustainable careers in the NHS.

“Patients and professionals share the same goal: a thriving NHS dental service,” Mark Jones concludes. “Tie-ins alone won’t solve everything, but they mark pragmatic progress toward an NHS dentist for everyone. We must not allow opposition to further delay relief for those in pain today.”

𝗘𝗡𝗗𝗦

03/07/2026

🦷 The Observer - 17 May 2026: “The result is a two‑tier dental system where your postcode and your wallet decide if you get seen.” Click on link in comments.