The Health Minister, Mike Nesbitt, has announced a significant investment and the expansion of the Happy Smiles programme, aiming to enhance access to dental care across Northern Ireland.

This financial boost provides funding for the continuation of the Enhanced Child Examination Scheme, which has already seen over 37,000 newly registered children aged 0-10 receive examinations, oral health advice, and fluoride application since its reintroduction in June 2024. The investment also includes the continuation of a 30% fee enhancement for Health Service fillings, extractions, and root canal treatments for 2025/26, alongside a £1.6m allocation to provide additional support for dental practitioners who maintain Health Service dental care for their patients. Furthermore, the Dental Access Scheme, which has treated nearly 18,400 high-need unregistered patients since August last year, will continue to be funded until 2027.

In addition to these direct investments into General Dental Services, the Happy Smiles programme, originally launched in 2016 to improve oral health in nursery children in deprived areas, is being expanded to include Primary 1, 2, and 3 schoolchildren in the 20% most deprived wards. The Health Minister stated his commitment to ensuring the long-term sustainability of dental services and has approved a General Dental Services cost of service review to be completed in 2025/26, which will provide evidence for future service development.