Buckinghamshire dental treatments hit a slump
The number of dental treatments has hit a slump following the pandemic
Dental practices in Buckinghamshire have treated significantly fewer patients this year compared to their usual figures.
There has been a 67% drop in appointments over the last year as a result of dental services being put on pause due to lockdown between March and June in 2020.
The British Dental Association said pandemic has made pre-existing problems worse, as dental services were already under pressure before the outbreak of coronavirus.
Westminster has been accused of setting unrealistic targets for the amount of patients dentists should see. Shawn Charlwood, chairman of the BDA's general dental practice committee, said:
""Dentists in England have had capacity slashed by pandemic restrictions and need help to get patients back through their doors.
"Sadly, while every other UK nation has committed funds, Westminster chose to impose targets that thousands of practices are now struggling to hit.
In January this year, the Government told NHS dentists they should now be able to start resuming to normal, and be able to deliver 45% of their pre-pandemic activity, rising to 60% in April.
Despite this, around half of the NHS practices in England are not meeting this target.
But the NHS's chief dental office Sara Hurley said that a change in treatment levels were inevitable and believes that urgent care appointments have now risen to what they were pre-pandemic.
She said:
"It’s inevitable that the upheaval caused by Covid has disrupted some people’s dental care, but dentists have been prioritising treatment for patients in urgent need, in part through the rapid establishment of 600 urgent dental centres – with millions still getting care through the pandemic."