The Dental Exemption Checking Service has identified a number of patients aged 60 and over who are incorrectly claiming free NHS dental treatment. This is due to confusion around benefits entitlement, specifically Pension Credit. This currently only applies to dentists in England.
According to the Department for Work and Pensions national statistics, there were over 1.4 million people in England receiving Pension Credit in August 2022. Not all benefits entitle people to free prescriptions. Patients can find out if they’re entitled to free NHS dental treatment and help with other NHS costs using the online eligibility checker.
We want to help both patients and dental teams understand the rules around eligibility and encourage Pension Credit claimants to check if they’re eligible for free NHS dental treatment, to avoid them claiming free treatment in error and potentially receiving a penalty charge.
There are a range of resources available on the NHSBSA resource library including guidance for the practice, a printable poster and a digital resource that can be used on waiting room screens.
Providers, performers and commissioners can share these resources with your networks and display the materials in practices, to support patients to claim free NHS dental treatment correctly.