NHS DENTAL treatments have been like gold dust in Salisbury in recent years with residents experiencing pain, discomfort or tooth loss and unable to get help.
New analysis by the Nuffield Trust has found total spending for dental services was £3.1bn in 2021-22 - a decline of £525m since 2014/15 and data released from the British Dental Association estimates an underspend by about £400 million in 2022/23.
A report by the Trust said NHS dentistry was in “near terminal decline” and “at its most perilous point in its 75-year history” siting access issues, a lack of funding, the pandemic and widening inequalities.
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Chair of the British Dental Association (BDA) General Dental Practice Committee, Shawn Charlwood, said: “This report reads like the last rites for NHS dentistry, and patients and this profession deserve some honesty here.
“The Government say NHS dentistry should be accessible for all who need it. The plain facts are we’re not seeing any evidence of the reforms or the resources to realise that ambition.”
Many Salisbury residents had previously spoken to the Journal about the state of the problem in the area.
Enola Dewi, 25, had lost her top teeth and had said: 'I just want some dentures.'
Her mother Sonia was in a similar situation having waited for two years to see a dentist. Neither could afford to go for private treatment.
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Prime Minister Rishi Sunak confirmed this week that a recovery plan for NHS dentistry in England would be published in the New Year and that £3bn in funding and a reformed dental contract was already making a difference.
Salisbury MP John Glen said: "The Government will shortly be publishing a dentistry recovery plan, which will focus on ensuring that dentists are better incentivised to deliver NHS care. Discussions are ongoing between NHS England and the British Dental Association with a view to reforming the NHS dental contract.
"The Government has already announced an average pay uplift for dentists of 8.8 per cent, with the aim of retaining more dentists.
He added: "There is more that must be done to increase the recruitment of NHS dentists, so the Government has backed the NHS Long Term Workforce Plan developed by the NHS, which proposes that dentistry undergraduate training places are increased by 40 per cent."
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