Urgent action calls on 'dental desert'

URGENT action is being demanded on access to NHS dentistry in Dumfriesshire amid fears the region has become a 'dental desert.'

South Scotland MSP Craig Hoy used a Holyrood debate to warn that Dumfries and Galloway has "one of the worst rates of NHS dental registration by some margin”, with more than 40 per cent of residents not registered with a dentist.

He warned that in one month alone last year 2000 NHS dental patients were deregistered in "one fell swoop."

He warned: "Last October, no NHS dentists in Dumfries and Galloway were registering new NHS patients. Those moving into the area were not getting access to NHS dentistry and those living there were being deregistered.

"That means significant problems, particularly for those from a lower-income background.

"The subscription model, which now appears to be the norm in Scotland, is clearly not affordable for many of the constituents who have been in touch with me.”

He added: "Last year, it emerged that adults seeking extractions in the Dumfries and Galloway health board area had to wait 43 weeks if they could not access that through a primary care setting, compared with just ten weeks in 2019-20. For children, the waiting time was a staggering 42 weeks, compared with nine weeks just four years before.”

Mr Hoy said there were clearly problems in relation to the dental position throughout Scotland, but stressed that "the situation in rural areas is particularly dire.”

He called on SNP ministers to take urgent action, saying: "The Scottish Government must redouble its efforts to work with the profession and with our rural communities to ensure that they do not become dental blackspots or dental deserts.

"That does untold damage to people’s health and can in some cases lead to life-threatening conditions, as was the case for a constituent who came to a surgery in Canonbie recently.”