Dental care in England ‘Third World’

Standards of NHS dental care in England have been likened to a “Third World” service, by dentists.

The care, already “unfit for purpose”, is becoming even worse, a letter signed by 400 dentists, in the Daily Telegraph newspaper, adds.

It says the creation by international charity Dentaid of a service for vulnerable patients in West Yorkshire is a sign of the mounting problems,according to BBC.

NHS England said services were improving.

An NHS England spokeswoman said: “These claims are wrong – more patients are getting the dental care they need, and 93% of people got an NHS dental appointment when they wanted one in the last 24 months.”

The letter calls the levels of tooth decay in children a “national disgrace”.

Figures published last year by the Health and Social Care Information Centre showed nearly half of eight-year-olds and a third of five-year-olds had signs of decay in their milk teeth.

The Children’s Dental Health Survey for England, Wales and Northern Ireland, carried out every 10 years, also found 46% of 15-year-olds had decay in their teeth – although that represented an improvement on the previous survey.

H.Z