Written question WQ98192

From 1 April, Wales will have a new dental contract, which puts preventative care and public health at its heart. It will take dentists off the current treadmill contract and pay them for the time they spend providing treatment. This is what the dental profession has asked for. We have also increased the value of payments being made to dentists to ensure providing NHS dentistry is attractive and sustainable.

We are strengthening recruitment and retention across the whole dental workforce by protecting the training pipeline, maintaining 74 dental foundation training places to help retain Welsh-trained graduates in Wales, and offering targeted financial incentives to work in rural and high need areas. We are also expanding roles across the wider dental team, supported by the new contract’s emphasis on prevention and skill mix, enabling dental therapists, hygienists and other professionals to deliver more patient care and increase capacity.

We are working closely with Cardiff University School of Dentistry and Health Education and Improvement Wales (HEIW) to modernise undergraduate education in line with the new contract to support the delivery of widening participation programmes to grow a sustainable future workforce.

Cardiff University has increased its Welsh‑domiciled intake significantly over the last three years, supporting long‑term retention by training more students with strong ties to Wales.

HEIW’s Dental Strategic Workforce Plan (2024-30) sets out clear actions about supply, wellbeing, and skill‑mix development. This includes enhancing dental core training and pathways into specialty roles, which are essential for building a sustainable workforce across hospital and community services.