MPs to look at dentist provision across North Yorkshire

MPs are attending a summit today to see how the situation can be improved

Author: Karen LiuPublished 8th Sep 2023

We are hearing how patients are being left in chronic pain because they cannot get a dentist appointment across North Yorkshire.

MPs are attending a summit today to see how the situation can be improved.

Chris Bentley lives in Scarborough and he has not been able to register for a dentist since moving to the town five years ago. He said: "We need more dentists and more places. As it stands, we don't have enough dentists for the existing population. This is something that we need to be looking at now. I don't think at the moment it's being given the priority that it needs. It really does need looking at.

"The nearest ones are Whitby, Pickering and Hull which is obviously far from ideal living here. It's a long way to travel just to get seen to and going private is something I'm looking into because I think the current situation is just unsustainable.

"I suffer from toothache and tooth pain on a regular basis and it's something that needs seeing to. I've tried going through the emergency dentist just to get it looked at but unfortunately that sort of thing isn't really viable because they're focussed on 'let's treat one immediate problem' and that's that."

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