Salisbury campaigner says children set up for lifetime of poor oral health with lack of NHS dentist access
Victoria Charleston says the current situation is "terrible"
Last updated 3rd Aug 2026
A Salisbury campaigner is campaigning for improved NHS dental access in the city, after describing the current situation as "terrible".
Salisbury City Councillor and Liberal Democrat MP candidate, Victoria Charleston, wants to hear from others about their experiences after being forced to sign up privately for herself, just so her three children could see a dentist on the NHS.
She said it's become a regular occurrence to see people on social media asking if there are any NHS dentists available.
She also revealed that practices that did say they were taking NHS patients couldn't always offer an appointment, instead instructing her that she'd need to call up every ay to see if they had a cancellation and could fit her in.
Cllr Charleston says there's "nothing worse than living with toothache" and doesn't blame staff or dental professionals for the issues, but she is determined to get to root of the problem in the city.
People travelling miles just to stay with NHS dentists
Upon further investigation, Cllr Charleston found that more than a third of Wiltshire adults haven't seen a dentist in the last two years, saying it is a "continual problem".
Having launched a survey for others to share their stories, she's discovered some of the incredible lengths people are going to in order to retain an NHS dentist.
"I've got a lady who lives in the centre of town who moved to Salisbury from the New Forest quite a while ago, but has stayed with her NHS dentist in the New Forest and goes down there to have her appointment.
"I've got a lady out towards Tisbury who was with an NHS dentist in Shaftesbury, but their service over the last 10 years has changed. So they went from six monthly appointments to 9 monthly appointments and over the past couple of years, they've gone entirely private," Cllr Charleston told us.
The survey can be found here.
She said her last visit to the dentist with her children cost £85, something she's fortunate enough to be able to budget for. But she said not everyone will be able to afford that.
"Then you start to get into the problems and we hear it elsewhere about people pulling out their own teeth or children going through problems and not seeing the dentist and three-year olds with fillings and all sorts of issues.
"We're setting children up for a lifetime of poor hygiene in their mouths and this is what we need to avoid."
People waiting until extreme emergencies
Cllr Charleston says hoping to follow in the footsteps of Liberal Democrat colleagues in Somerset who managed to set up NHS Dentists their areas.
She's already speaking to Wiltshire's Integrated Care Board about the situation and what help they can provide, but she admits a lot of it will come down to funding.
"Money is so tight in all aspects of government, we keep going to crisis point. We keep pushing people to the very extremes, at the very ends. And I was hearing on the radio ages ago now about extreme emergency dental support.
"But if we're able to support people at the preventative stage, at the point where they look after their teeth and the same way we look after our eyes and all sorts of other things, then hopefully we can save the NHS and save the system money in the long term."
She added that this isn't a Salisbury-specific issue and is one that the Prime Minister needs to take a serious look at.
"He's talking very enthusiastically about an awful lot of things. I'd love this enthusiasm for dentistry right now," Cllr Charleston said.
A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said:
"Too many people are struggling to access the dental care they need. After years of decline, this government has taken swift action to rebuild NHS dentistry, delivering 1.8 million additional courses of treatment and a £4.2 billion budget for NHS dentistry this financial year alone.
“Our reforms to dentistry prioritise patients with the greatest need, while our prevention programme is building healthy dental habits in around 600,000 children, tackling tooth decay from an early age.
“To build a sustainable workforce, we’re also rolling out more dentistry school training places in underserved areas and cutting red tape to allow qualified dentists to practise.”