More treatment, same access: what the 2025/26 NHS dental figures do — and don’t — tell your practice
England delivered 37.6 million courses of NHS dental treatment last year, up 6.2%, while the share of the adult population seen barely moved. The…
Regulation & Compliance
GDC chair flags ‘substantial’ cost pressure from rising complaints ahead of fee decision
A 26% jump in fitness-to-practise concerns in 2025 — and a further 20% rise so far in 2026 — is straining the regulator's costs as Council prepares to set the…
Three reform blueprints, one contract: where the NHS dentistry debate actually stands
A cross-party think tank, the Association of Dental Groups and the BDA are now publicly at odds over how far NHS contract reform should…
The MHRA wants to raise the fee every dental lab pays by 70%, and it is still subsidised
The medicines regulator has proposed lifting its annual device registration fee from £300 to £511 per category from April 2027, a year after it…
The Guides
All guides →Evergreen, primary-sourced reference for the person carrying the risk. Updated as our reporting develops.
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Dental practice compliance
CQC registration and inspection, GDC obligations, waste, radiography and the annual cycle a practice has to keep.
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Buying & selling a practice
Valuation, due diligence, deal structure and goodwill — and an honest account of which numbers in this market are marketing.
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Dental practice management
Skill mix and scope of practice, recruitment and retention, and pay benchmarked against published scales rather than agency guides.
From recent weeks
Overseas dental nurse recruitment has all but stopped since the visa rule change
Home Office figures show six dental nurses were granted sponsored work visas in the nine months after July 2025's skill-threshold rise, and none at…
Christie & Co reports a seller’s market for ‘quality’ practices — but read the fine print
The adviser's Dental Market Review 2026 says corporates and private equity are back and competing hard for the best practices, with most accepted offers…
NHS dental activity rises again — but still trails pre-pandemic levels, and the numbers cut both ways
New NHSBSA figures show courses of treatment up 6% for adults and 7% for children in 2025/26, yet total activity remains below 95% of…
Going mixed: a margin-defence move, not a best-of-both-worlds fix
Two-thirds of UK practices already run a mixed model, and cost pressure is pushing more owners to follow. The operational case is sound —…
One in ten practices have left NHS dentistry since 2017, Nuffield Trust finds
New analysis puts a number on a decade-long retreat that was never announced — and the sector splits on whether the fix is contract…
GDC consults on early-stage fitness-to-practise guidance — but the numbers behind it are contested
The regulator wants views by 2 November on new guidance for staff who triage complaints at the two earliest stages of fitness to practise.…