NHS tooth care like 'dental desert', Suffolk MP says

Parts of England, including Suffolk, are becoming "dental deserts", with no access to NHS dentistry for residents, an MP has told Westminster.

Peter Aldous, the Conservative MP for Waveney, Suffolk, said "NHS dentistry has been the number one issue in my inbox for some time."

He brought a debate to Westminster Hall together with the Labour MP for South Bradford, Judith Cummins.

Health minister Maria Caulfield said she was working to address the issues.

Mr Aldous said the lack of available NHS dental appointments was a "national crisis", although the issue in his own constituency was "acute".

"There are now parts of the country, particularly in rural and coastal areas, though not confined there, that are dental deserts."

Mr Aldous said 44% of new patients could not see an NHS dentist, and in his Waveney constituency, the figure was 56%.

He said the NHS contract for dentists was "not fit for purpose and is a major driver of dentists leaving NHS practice".

Campaigners gathered outside Westminster Hall, including Mark Jones, organiser of the group Toothless in Suffolk, which calls for improved access to NHS dentists - and which has now changed its name to Toothless in England.

He said a lack of available NHS dentists was "putting people at long-term health risk".

"Where you and I would have our regular dental check-ups, for those that can't get those check-ups - oral cancers are being missed, gum disease is being missed [and] these all have long-term impacts on the health of the nation."

He said "radical reform of the NHS contract system is needed now".

"We're hearing horrific stories of people doing DIY dentistry," he added.

His group, which started in Suffolk, had recently "launched in Newcastle, in Manchester, and Norfolk" and other groups would be joining from across England, he said.

Mr Aldous acknowledged the government had put in £5.73m of extra funding for NHS dentistry in the east of England - but said the funding was only available until the end of March, and he feared it would only be a short-term fix.

He said NHS dentistry needed secure long-term funding, and called on the government to increase training places for dentists, to allow EU dentists to keep practising in the UK, and to recognise overseas dental qualifications, especially those from India.

Health minister, Maria Caulfield, said she understood the problems with the dental contract and was "working at pace" to reform it.

"Dentistry is absolutely a priority for me," she said.

She added she had already put in some short-term improvements, but warned that with dentists working at reduced capacity due to the pandemic, "the backlogs in the short term are going to grow".

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