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Strong Roots

SUPPORT STRONG ROOTS

Lincolnshire faces some of the most significant challenges in England when it comes to access to NHS dental care.

At the University of Lincoln, we are working with people and organisations from across the region to change that with a clear ambition: to establish a dental school in Lincolnshire.

This is about training more dental professionals, growing the local workforce, and improving access to dental and oral health care. By doing so, we can tackle stark health inequalities for people in under-served communities, especially those living in rural and coastal places. Lincolnshire is one of England's 'dental deserts' with local people facing a severe and systemic oral health crisis due to a lack of access to NHS treatment.

Research shows healthcare professionals tend to work where they train, often in the places they grew up. Lincolnshire does not currently have a dental school.

It's time we changed that.

A Solution Taking Shape

With support of local partners, we established the Lincolnshire Institute for Dental and Oral Health (LIDOH), creating the foundations for dental education and workforce development in the county.

Through LIDOH, we are:

  • LAUNCHING

    Launching new training courses, including an intended Dental Hygiene and Therapy degree programme from September 2026.

  • INVESTING

    Investing in advanced simulation and training technologies for dental training.

  • SUPPORTING

    Supporting existing dental professionals to develop new skills and qualifications.

Supported by the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority with £1.5m investment through the Government's UK Shared Prosperity Fund, LIDOH is already building local capacity and strengthening the workforce.

The next step is to create a dental school for Lincolnshire. This would mean we can train homegrown dentists, just as we are producing the next generation of doctors at Lincoln Medical School.

Strong Roots for Oral Health

Strong Roots is our campaign to grow the future of dental education in Lincolnshire from the ground up.

We're asking our communities to help us make the case for why Lincolnshire needs a dental school of its own. By doing so, we can secure the dental training places needed to turn the tables on dental and oral health inequality in rural and coastal places like Lincolnshire.

Add your support if you believe in:

  • training more dental professionals locally
  • improving access to NHS dental care
  • addressing health inequalities affecting our communities

Support Strong Roots

The Case for Change

Only 1 in 4 people in Lincolnshire accessed an NHS dentist in the last six months of 2025 — below the national average. Less than half of children in Lincolnshire saw a dentist in that time.

40% of people who don't visit a dentist say it's because they simply cannot find one.

There are 36 dentists for every 100,000 people in Lincolnshire, compared to 42 dentists for every 100,000 people in England. The ratio of dentists to people is worse in rural and coastal places.

The combined population of the East of England and East Midlands who are not currently served by a dental school is 11.6 million.

Fixing England's Dental Desert

Lincolnshire faces a severe and systemic shortage of NHS dental provision, leaving many residents unable to access basic dental care. It is England's first 'dental desert'.

The University of Lincoln proposes a new dental school to train and retain a local workforce while advancing regional health and NHS priorities.

Lincoln is geographically well-positioned to serve not only Lincolnshire but the wider East Midlands and East of England; regions currently without dental school provision despite acute workforce shortages.

Our proposal is the most developed, politically endorsed, and infrastructure-ready solution for addressing the dental workforce gap in the East Midlands and East of England.