How can employers reduce dental-related sickness absence?

Most businesses do not record it as dental. In our YouGov survey of 1,020 UK HR decision makers, 38% said they record unplanned absence by its specific cause ^[1]. The rest log it in ways that hide the reason: 29% record it as general sickness without noting the cause, 15% record it as annual or unpaid leave at the employee's request, and 11% have no formal process and handle it case by case.

That last group matters more than it looks. When an employee with toothache swaps a shift or books a day of leave, the absence never reaches a sickness report. HR sees a gap on the rota with nothing to link it to a dental problem, so nobody plans for it.

Bigger than most absence data suggests. In a 2023 Bupa survey of 2,049 UK employees, 48% said they had called in sick or left work early because of dental pain ^[2]. Denplan (Simplyhealth) estimates that toothache has led to at least 23 million sick days across the UK ^[3].

Our own research shows the cost lands on operations. 38% of HR leaders say unplanned, short-notice absence has a severe impact on how their business runs ^[1]. Dental problems are a common source of exactly that kind of absence: they rarely come with warning, and a bad night with toothache usually means a missed shift the next morning.

Give it its own reason code. If your HR system or absence form has a fixed list of causes, add "dental" as a separate option rather than leaving it under general sickness or "other". Then make sure the same code is used when the absence is booked as leave or a shift swap.

A simple approach that works for most teams:

1. Add a "dental pain or treatment" reason to your absence form and HR system.
2. Ask line managers to use it for short-notice absence, leaving early and appointments taken during working hours.
3. Include annual leave and shift swaps that were booked at short notice because of dental pain, so they are counted too.
4. Review the figures every quarter alongside your other absence causes.

Within one or two quarters you will know how much time dental problems cost your business, which is the number you need before deciding what to do about it.

Mostly access. The British Dental Association estimates that 13 million adults in England had an unmet need for NHS dentistry in 2024, with around 780,000 on waiting lists ^[4]. When people cannot get an appointment, small problems are left until they become painful.

Time off is the other barrier. In the same Bupa survey, 73% of employees said they had delayed going to the dentist, and more than two in five delayed treatment because they were worried about needing time off work ^[2]. Our research found that only 20% of HR leaders are very confident their employees could get urgent dental care within 48 hours through their current provision ^[1].

Once you can see dental absence, these steps tackle it at the source:

• Make appointments easier to fit in. Allow flexible start times or short paid absences for dental appointments, so staff do not have to choose between treatment and a full day's leave.
• Check what your current benefits cover. Many staff do not know whether they already have dental support through a cash plan, private medical cover or an employee assistance programme. A short note explaining what is available, and how to use it, often raises take-up.
• Give staff a route to advice before it becomes urgent. Early advice can stop a manageable problem turning into pain and a day off. On-demand dental benefits, such as Toothfairy, give employees access to UK-registered dentists through an app and can sit alongside a cash plan or other cover the employer already offers.
• Talk about it. Dental health rarely comes up in wellbeing communications. Including it in your benefits reminders and onboarding makes it easier for staff to raise problems early.

Track three numbers each quarter: days lost to dental absence, the number of short-notice absences coded as dental, and take-up of any dental support you offer. Compare them with the quarter before you made changes.

If the coded dental absence rises at first, that normally means the recording is working. It does not mean the problem is getting worse. The trend after that first quarter is the figure to watch.