People in Bristol are being forced to pull their own teeth out, as access to National Health Service (NHS) dentistry has reached critical levels. Chris Loder, MP for West Dorset led the debate and highlighted the dire situation in a Westminster Hall debate on Wednesday, May 24, stating, “Access to NHS dentistry in the southwest has been on an alarming downward trajectory for some time.”
A shortage of NHS dentists has contributed to the decline in dental services. Despite having 24,272 active NHS dentists in England, a quarter of the adult population still has unmet dental needs. Loder stressed that the increase of 2.3% in the number of NHS dentists compared to the previous year is misleading, as many practitioners have reduced their NHS work, exacerbating the strain on the system. This has led to individuals either resorting to private dentistry, incurring additional costs, or going without essential dental care, risking poor oral health.
The southwest region, has been rated fifth out of seven for adult NHS dental coverage, with only 35% of adults having access to essential dental services, falling below the national average.
Kerry McCarthy, the MP for Bristol East spoke at the debate saying: “People who are not registered with an NHS dentist cannot get treatment now because almost all practices in the area are not accepting new patients. There are patients who are registered with a surgery but cannot get an appointment because there is no longer an NHS dentist working there. In my case, I left my NHS dentist because every time I had an appointment it was cancelled, because the practice was moving dentists around other surgeries in the chain where there was higher demand.”
She explained that practices are closing down, including the Bupa surgery in Bristol West area.
Ms McCarthy highlighted the issues for pregnant women who are entitled to free dentistry but canno see a dentist at all. She said: “Pregnant women are more likely to suffer particular dental issues and there is an increased risk of certain health complications if the dental problems worsen. An estimated 1 million pregnant dental care patients in England missed out on dental care between March 2020 and March 2022, and they are still finding it very difficult.”
More shocking, was the fact people are resorting to doing their own dentistry. She explained: “Those who cannot afford a tooth extraction with a private dentist and cannot get an emergency NHS appointment are pulling out their own teeth in agony.
“Constituents have told me that that is a fact. Dentists are seeing more people with higher levels of dental need, because the wait for an NHS appointment means that a minor problem drastically worsens over time so that, in the end, they find they need to have their teeth removed. Some patients say that because they have not been able to get an appointment since lockdown, they have been kicked off the dentist’s records for not attending.”
She concluded: “I have taken this issue up with the Government, NHS England and the local integrated care board. Generally, the Government recommend that people visit the NHS “Find a dentist” website. Local NHS services have been working hard to commission more urgent dental care appointments. They are also offering stabilisation sessions for those who do not have an NHS dentist, cannot afford to go private and need an urgent fix to a problem like a broken tooth or a damaged filling. But clearly this is not good enough.
“We need to work on retaining as well as recruiting NHS dentists and we need to reform the dental contract which, as he said, is simply not fit for purpose. Given the time, I will leave it to others to raise some of the other questions. I could talk for a very long time about the problems my constituents are suffering from.”
Neil O’Brien, the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, has expressed his commitment to prioritising dentistry and addressing the challenges faced by the dental sector.
He explained: “We know that there are serious challenges across the country which are particularly acute in the southwest.
“I met the commissioners for dentistry in the southwest earlier this week. I met the professionals separately and had further meetings about our dental plan earlier today. This is absolutely top priority.”
Initial steps have already been taken to initiate reform, such as creating additional Units of Dental Activity (UDA) bands to reflect the fair cost of work and encourage NHS work.
He explained that the government has also been working on measures to facilitate the recruitment of dentists from overseas, and legislation enabling the General Dental Council to increase capacity for the overseas registration exam has already been implemented. Addressing the backlog of dental services caused by the Covid-19 pandemic is another priority for the government.
O’Brien highlighted the progress made so far, saying: “In data published by NHS England this week, the proportion of contracted units of dental activity delivered went up from 85% last March to 101% this March, and the number of NHS patients seen has gone up by about a fifth over the last year, so there is progress, but there is much more to do. We will go further in the future dental plan, which I hope will be out relatively shortly.”
He added that the government’s dental plan would focus on improving access for new patients, addressing historical variations in UDAs, enhancing transparency, and expanding the dental workforce through a forthcoming workforce plan.
“We will do everything we can to make doing work for the NHS and NHS patients more attractive to dentists,” he said.
