Did you know that the Tories had pledged an NHS dentist for one million more people?

I didn't.

I noticed via The Blue Blog. Alok Sharma, reporting a visit to Reading West yesterday by Andrew Lansley, blogged:

"Andrew discussed Conservative plans to change NHS dentistry which will give a million more people access to an NHS dentist. He also emphasised that we will ensure that all children are registered with an NHS dentist and there will be a strong focus on preventative care from an early age."

The policy comes from nearly a full year ago and is explained here.

The Tory manifesto will be launched on Tuesday and that's a policy pledge worth highlighting.

Getting political bang from the enormus number of bucks that Tories are promising the NHS makes obvious sense. I didn't support ring-fencing the NHS budget but - if you are going to protect it - you might as well get the political dividends from doing so. In terms of electoral potency the pledge to keep NHS spending increasing in real terms was too abstract. This pledge on dentists and last week's pledge on cancer drugs starts making the Tories' NHS commitment a lot more meaningful.

Tim Montgomerie