Newcastle Central MP Chi Onwurah has warned that a lack of NHS dentists and the cost-of-living crisis mean people in the city are unable to access the vital treatment they need.
Ms Onwurah, speaking in the House of Commons this week, said the lack of available NHS dental services was "storing up more trouble for later". Citing figures demonstrating that nine in 10 dentists are not accepting new NHS patients, she urged the Government to address the crisis - which has seen shocking numbers turn to "DIY dentistry" at home.
Figures from the Local Government Association highlight how in Newcastle there is around one NHS dentist for every 7,000 people. Across the North East, fewer than four in 10 people had seen an NHS dentist in the last two years according to House of Commons Library research.
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Addressing health ministers, Ms Onwurah asked what the Government would do to help millions get dental care and added: "Effective dental provision is essential not only for quality of life but for nutrition and confidence. Indeed, not being able to access it at important points in life is storing up more trouble for later, yet nine out of 10 dentists are not accepting NHS patients and, with the soaring cost of living, my constituents cannot afford dental treatment."
In response, minister Neil O'Brien said: "As well as the reforms that we started this summer and I announced in our plan for patients, as we start to think about the next dental contract, we are thinking about all the different things we can do to incentivise dentists to work in particularly poorer areas where there is difficulty accessing services.
"We are also working with the General Dental Council to review the processes that overseas dentists have to complete before they start to provide NHS care, which are sometimes more arduous than those for doctors. We are also thinking about the internal market of the UK and making it easier for dentists in Scotland to practise in England as well."
In July, the Government and NHS England announced reforms to the dental contract which will mean NHS dentists will be paid more for treating more complex cases. Dental therapists will be able to take on patients for routine NHS treatments to free up dentists for urgent and complex cases.
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