As the UK faces an ongoing dental crisis over the lack of NHS dentists, Superdrug, the leading accessible health and beauty retailer has announced today that it is reducing the price of its own brand oral care range, ProCare, by 20%, the equivalent of VAT.
The price of 60 ProCare products will be reduced from 28th February 2024, and marks the launch of the retailer’s ‘Healthy Smile’ campaign; an initiative which aims to improve the state of the nation’s oral care. The reductions will remain in place indefinitely, to ensure that families have access to affordable oral care amidst the cost-of-living crisis.
Across the UK, ‘dental deserts’ are becoming more prevalent – areas where 100% of the dentists are not accepting new patients – leading to people having no choice but to pay for expensive private dentists to receive the necessary treatment they need, or worse, performing DIY treatments at home.
In a recent survey of 2,000 people conducted by Superdrug, one in five people don’t have regular dentist, and almost a fifth (18%) admitted that they would attempt DIY dentistry on themselves. The survey also revealed 29% of people have switched to cheaper brands of toothpastes and brushes, whilst 17% have stopped buying certain oral care products altogether to cut back on costs.
Superdrug’s Own Brand Director, Jamie Archer, says: “As a leading accessible health and beauty retailer, we believe that everyone should have access to the products that protect their health and wellbeing and at an affordable price. Our ProCare range has been developed by oral care experts, ensuring that the wide range of products caters for everyone and fits into every aspect of a daily routine.”
“Oral care products are currently classed as cosmetics and therefore carries the VAT associated with it, making it unaffordable for some people. Hearing from our customers and looking at our research, we hope that by reducing the price of our ProCare range we can help make oral healthcare more affordable for all.”
The Chair of the British Dental Association, Eddie Crouch welcomes Superdrug’s price reductions and said, “Toothbrushes and fluoride toothpaste are key to maintaining good health and shouldn’t be subject to VAT. Families shouldn’t have to pay the price for the dental access and cost of living crises.”
Products included in the ProCare ‘Healthy Smile’ range include manual toothbrushes from £1.59, electric toothbrushes from £29.59, kids toothpaste from 79p and mouthwash from £2.79. The full range is available to buy from www.Superdrug.com.
