Less than half of adults in the most deprived areas – such as West Dunbartonshire – have seen a dentist in the last two years.
In NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, which covers the region, less than half of adults had seen a dentist in the two years prior to September last year.
Dental health was badly hit during the pandemic, with people unable to get treatments during lockdown.
New figures from Public Health Scotland reveal the inequalities that were likely made even worse by Covid.
Only 45.1 percent of adults from the most deprived areas managed to see an NHS dentist over the last two years, compared to over 56.4 percent from the least deprived locations.
Although 55 percent of children from the most deprived areas were seen by a dentist in the same time period, the figure was 73.1 percent at the other end of the affluence spectrum.
Dumbarton MSP Jackie Baillie hit out over a “growing crisis” in dental care.
The Labour politician spoke during a recent debate in parliament saying she is concerned “privatisation of dental care by the back door” is going to result in people from more deprived areas being unable to afford treatment.
She said: “It is now clear that the SNP’s catastrophic failure to support Scottish NHS dentists has led to a shocking rise in dental inequality which is impacting on people locally.
“We know already that the very existence of NHS dentistry in Scotland is on the line, with the current funding model leading to privatisation by the back door, but now we have the proof that thousands of Scots have not been seen by dentists for years.
“That those from poorer backgrounds including people in my Dumbarton constituency, particularly children, are less likely to have received treatment is nothing short of a national disgrace.
“This cannot be allowed to continue.
“Humza Yousaf must wake up to the crisis facing NHS dentistry before it reaches the point of no return.
“Dental care in Scotland cannot be allowed to become the privilege of the few who can afford to go private.”
It has previously been estimated that around 3.5 million NHS dental appointments have been lost in Scotland since the first lockdown, driven by ongoing restrictions.
A spokeswoman for NHSGGC said dental care is being prioritised based on clinical need, focusing on those who require urgent and essential treatment in the first instance.
She said: “As social distancing requirements remains at 2m for health settings, for both staff and patients, this reduces the numbers of people that can attend the practices at any one time.
“As most dental treatment also involves the production of aerosols, known as aerosol generating procedures, there is a requirement to allow for fallow time, on average 30 minutes, before the surgery can be cleaned and used again.
“This puts additional limits on the number of treatments that can be provided each day.”
She added that as independent contractors dentists are responsible for making the decision as to what extent they are able to offer NHS treatment with some taking the decision to operate a on a private treatment only basis.
It’s been agreed that the Public Dental Service (PDS) will offer routine care to patients if they are unable to see their usual dentist.
Last week, the Scottish Government announced that dentists will be rewarded for seeing more NHS patients.
The new revised payment arrangements for NHS dentists will be linked more closely to the number of patients they see under changes being introduced in April.
Public Health Minister Maree Todd said: “The pandemic has had a significant impact on the provision of dental care and our focus must now be on recovery and ensuring we equip the sector to work through the significant dental backlog.
“From April, the new system will support dentists to see more patients while avoiding a cliff-edge for practices and ensuring a soft transition during what is still a constrained period for dental
teams.”
