DENTISTS are to be paid a bonus of up to £50 a time to see patients who have not received a check-up for two years.
Around 240 will get a £20,000 golden hello if they work in an “under-served” area for up to three years.
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NHS pay rates will jump 22 per cent to £28 per unit of treatment under a recovery plan — to be unveiled today — which aims to provide 2.5million extra appointments over the next year.
Dental vans will tour isolated areas, experts will supervise toothbrushing in schools and fluoride could be added to tap water in the North East to reduce decay for 1.6million people as part of the initiative.
It comes with eight in ten NHS clinics closed to new patients.
Figures also show that six in ten adults in England have not seen a dentist for at least two years and half of children have not had a check-up for at least 12 months.
PM Rishi Sunak said dentistry was hit hard by the pandemic and the plan would give “easier and faster access” to patients.
NHS boss Amanda Pritchard said: “Recovering dentistry is a priority for the NHS and this plan is a significant step.”
However, the British Dental Association said it “falls well short” and would not halt the exodus of NHS dentists, who earn £78,000 a year on average.
The BDA’s Shawn Charlwood said: “This ‘Recovery Plan’ is not worthy of the title.”
Thea Stein, of the Nuffield Trust think tank, said that despite welcome measures, the plan would not solve dentistry’s “state of near terminal decline”.
She added: “It is a scale and polish when what NHS dentistry needs is a root canal.”