Scot Lib Dems reveal wave of dentists taking early retirement

Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today revealed that Scotland is losing dozens of dentists every year to early retirement as he called for the Scottish Government to encourage experienced professionals to stay on amidst dentist shortages across the country.  

A freedom of Information request submitted by the Scottish Liberal Democrats to the Scottish Public Pensions Authority revealed that of the 841 dentists who have retired since 2015, just 43 waited until the state pension age to do so.  

Scottish Liberal Democrats recently revealed that children and young people in some parts of the country are waiting almost three years to receive NHS dental treatment. The party also revealed that there have been more than 136,000 calls to emergency dental lines since 2019.

In November, the Scottish Government introduced a revised payment system for NHS dental treatments, which will see an increase in the prices for patients. The cost to a patient of a single tooth extraction will rise from £14.76 to £28.84. The cost of a basic acrylic denture will jump from £70 to £117.    

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:  

“Access to toothcare should be no different from any other form of medical treatment. People should be able to rely on treatment being readily available, close to home.

“Instead we are seeing dentists retiring early or ditching NHS work because engaging with the Scottish Government is worse than pulling teeth.  

“More than one hundred experienced professionals are taking early retirement every year. This shortage of dentists creates stress for patients and increases the workload for those who remain.  

“The Health Secretary needs to look at what can be done to encourage experienced staff to stay on.  

“Scottish Liberal Democrats are very proud of the part we played in introducing free dental checks in Scotland and in pressing for a new dental school to address the shortage of dentists. However, that good work is being undone by SNP ministers whose attention is always elsewhere.”