Bridlington woman demands NHS dentistry reform as granddaughter denied private emergency dental care

A Bridlington woman is urging change for NHS dental contracts after her step-granddaughter was offered emergency treatment 67 miles away following the closure of all NHS dentists in the town.

The leader of Lib Dems recently claimed 30,000 children and young people last year went to hospital for tooth decay.

As part of our ‘the root of our dental crisis’ special - we've spoken to Dawn Emms who is part of a Health forum there – she says her daughter in law was refused private emergency dental care for her child because there was no availability for people not registered with them.

Dawn said:

“My daughter in law eventually had to ring 111, she was offered an appointment for the next day in Harrogate. Waiting another day wasn’t appropriate but also how was she expected to just up, not go to work and travel all that way.

“Unfortunately, she had to go back as well so they did ‘a very emergency fix’ which didn’t work so she had to go back again.

“The NHS dentists just simply cant afford it and the worry is what is going to happen to children’s teeth and the long term outlook for them is very poor.”

The shortage started because of issues with NHS dental contracts meaning dentists are getting less in funding than it costs to treat patients.

Speaking at the final Health and Social Care Committee’s NHS dentistry inquiry, The health minister said they’re looking into the problem.

Steve Barclay, said:

“There’s a whole bunch of things we’re interested in around prevention because we’re thinking about what we can do with children’s dentistry.

"I want to do a thorough overhaul of the current contract and the system because I think that is what’s needed now.”

Recently, The Prime Minister defended the Government's record on dentistry, and claimed more children were now able to see an NHS dentist than in previous years.

Sir Ed Davey raised Liberal Democrat data at Prime Minister's Questions, telling MPs: "Tooth decay is the number one reason that children over four end up in hospital. Regular dental check ups could prevent that but too many parents can't get them for their child.

"Will the Prime Minister take up the Liberal Democrat plan to end this crisis and make sure people can get an NHS dentist when they need one?"

Rishi Sunak replied: "The NHS recently reformed dentistry contracts, which will improve access for patients. Dentistry received about £3 billion a year. There were around 500 more dentists delivering care in the NHS last year than the year before.

"He mentioned children, I am pleased to say that almost 45% more children saw an NHS dentist in that year compared to the year before."