NHS Dentistry: South-west
Steve Darling Excerpts(1 day, 12 hours ago)
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Steve Darling (Torbay) (LD)
I thank you, Mr Vickers, for ably chairing the debate, and my hon. Friend the Member for Honiton and Sidmouth (Richard Foord) for securing it.
I represent Torbay, which is sadly a dental desert. We have more than 2,200 people on our waiting list, desperate to receive support from a dentist. I fear that is just a shadow of the reality of the need there, because people think that it is a forlorn hope to be able to register for a dentist. More than half the adults of Torbay have not seen a dentist in the past two years. More than a third of children have not seen a dentist in the past year. This is a cocktail of severe dangers for the health of communities across the United Kingdom.
I have spoken to a number of residents since being elected, and I want to share a couple of examples of how the situation is impacting on real people. One of them told me that she was halfway through treatment to resolve challenges in her mouth when her dentist withdrew, leaving her with a job half done. She still suffers with pain and is upset about her dentistry needs.
Another resident, Kirstie, tells me that she suffers with a condition that means she is highly likely to develop mouth cancer. She is meant to receive three-monthly checks yet, as she has no NHS dentist and cannot afford a private practice dentist, she is having to go without. That is resulting in severe depression and her having to medicate for those depression issues. That is not where the United Kingdom should be.
Coastal and rural communities face real challenges in dentistry. When we look at the national picture, urban areas tend to be rich in dentists; our far-flung areas are much more challenged. I am delighted that we are looking at about 700,000 new emergency appointments, but how many of those will happen in Torbay? On the renegotiation of the dentists’ contract, how will we be able to take account of rurality and coastal issues as part of the mix?