By India Peach, Chartered Management Consultant

“The future of dentistry has lift off!” was the theme of this year’s BDIA National Conference, bringing together colleagues from across the dental industry to talk innovation, emerging opportunities and what’s next for dentistry.

We were invited to attend by Dr Rakhee Patel, Deputy Chief Dental Officer, who was delivering the opening keynote and asked TPHC to join her on stage to showcase some of the dental transformation work we’ve supported across North Central London.

So, what does the future of dentistry look like?

Rakhee kicked off the event with an update from the Chief Dental Officer’s office, sharing some of the national priorities shaping dentistry over the coming years.

Unsurprisingly, access remains high on the agenda, alongside the wider dental reform programme. Rakhee shared some positive progress for children, with access now returning to pre-pandemic levels, while acknowledging there is still more to do to improve access for adults.

Other priorities included a continued focus on prevention and good oral health in young children, supporting and developing the whole oral healthcare workforce, patient and team safety, and strengthening the interface between oral and general health.

That last point linked particularly well to some of the work we’re already supporting in NCL. As part of our presentation, we shared our developing diabetes pathway, which is looking at how dental and GP practices can work more closely together to identify and support people at risk of diabetes.

Workforce was another big theme. Rakhee highlighted plans to increase training places for aspiring dentists, alongside changes that could see up to 2,400 additional overseas-trained dentists registered annually from 2028/29.

And it’s not just about the younger end of the population. Drawing on her experience as a geriatric dentist, Rakhee highlighted the growing importance of oral health in an ageing population — particularly for people who may become less able to look after their own teeth. With the population ageing, this is only going to become more important and raises interesting questions about where future investment should be targeted.

Digital also featured prominently. Digital implementation sits within Rakhee’s national portfolio, and she talked about how technology could be used differently to improve access and patient care — an area with some obvious connections to our wider transformation and digital work at TPHC.

Bringing a local perspective: from policy to practice

Against that national backdrop, our job was to bring things back to what actually happens on the ground.

Alongside Rakhee, Tamsin and I presented ‘From Policy to Practice’, sharing how TPHC has worked with the ICB to translate national ambitions and local population need into practical programmes of dental transformation.

We talked about some of the realities of making innovation happen — from navigating annual funding cycles and constrained commissioning capacity, to the importance of strong clinical leadership, good governance and bringing the right partners together at the right time.

We also showcased some of the initiatives that have emerged from that approach, including our prevention work with children and young people and the work underway to better connect oral and general health.

With an audience predominantly made up of colleagues from industry, our NHS commissioning and transformation perspective offered something a little different from much of the programme. One attendee reflected afterwards on LinkedIn that “it was interesting listening to Rakhee, Tamsin and India on the prevention work charities are doing with young people” — so it was good to see some of the work resonating outside our usual NHS networks.

Opportunity to explore different perspectives

We had some really interesting conversations with health economists, estates leads, group practice owners and directors as well as clinicians, giving us different perspectives on where dentistry is heading and where there might be opportunities to work together.

The event was a useful reminder of just how broad the dental transformation agenda is becoming. Access remains critical, but the conversation is increasingly also about prevention, workforce, digital innovation, integration with wider healthcare and meeting the oral health needs of an ageing population — all areas with strong connections to the work we’re already supporting and plenty for us to continue exploring.

If you are interested in working together in these areas to address your challenges, then please do get in touch: rf-tr.tphc-communication@nhs.net