10,000 dental patients told all routine check-ups are now stopped
WORRIED parents on Anglesey have sounded the alarm over their fears about future tooth decay in their children, following the temporary ending of all routine appointments at one of the island’s biggest dental practices.
Longford Road Dental in Holyhead has blamed a ‘shortage of dental practitioners’ and said it’s working urgently to fill vacancies. Patients have received emails from the practice apologising for the move.
One anxious dad said he now feared for his children’s teeth. He condemned the state of NHS dentistry in Wales as ‘crazy’ amid continued declines in practitioner numbers.
Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board (BCUHB), which is responsible for all NHS dental services in the area, said it was aware of the practice’s staffing difficulties and was providing support. It said dentist shortages were a Uk-wide problem that all health boards were grappling with.
In its email to patients, Longford Road Dental said all routine appointments had been postponed ‘until further notice.’ It added: “Unfortunately, we are unable to schedule any dental examinations at the moment. Rest assured, any appointments that have already been scheduled will remain in place for the time being.
“However, due to a shortage of dental practitioners at the moment, our focus will be on completing treatments for patients with ongoing treatment plans and addressing dental emergencies. We are actively seeking new dentist(s) to join our team and we hope to fill this position as soon as possible. We will reassess the situation on a monthly basis. We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.”
An anxious Anglesey dad said he was loathe to criticise the practice as it was the only one on the island that was taking on NHS patients at the time his family signed up. Getting there means 90-minute round trips, but he said he was left with no other option. He asked not to be named.
“It’s a good practice with nice people but they have clearly been struggling in recent years,” he said. “They told us they were now down to one dentist for its 10,000 patients. We’ve been booking appointments for our children a year in advance. We’ve also been taking any emergency cancellations we can, even if it means them missing half a day of school because of the long drive.”
More recently, he said the family was being offered check-ups only once every two years because their teeth were in ‘reasonable condition’ and because there was so much demand.
“Now they’ve told us that all routine examinations will be postponed,” he fumed.
“It seems crazy that it’s come to this in a rich, modern country. It is awful to think of all the kids who are going to end up with long-term problems with their teeth because our government has been unable to plan properly for their futures.”
Ffion Johnstone, BCUHB’S integrated health community director west, said the practice was experiencing ‘shortterm staffing issues,’ adding that it continued to provide NHS dental services with one dentist, a foundation dentist and three therapists, with
A MAN threatened a kebab shop delivery driver with a ratchet after a row over a woman.
Dafydd Parry and the driver confronted each other outside the takeaway in Valley on Anglesey.
Parry kicked and smashed the driver’s headlight and the driver was so afraid he got a baseball bat. Parry went away but returned brandishing the ratchet.
The 29-year-old, of Maes Gwelfor, Rhydwyn, Holyhead, pleaded guilty to affray, possession of an offensive weapon - the ratchet - and causing criminal damage. A judge at Caernarfon Crown Court gave him a suspended jail sentence.
Prosecutor Laura Knightly told the court that Joshua Dieter-gill was a delivery driver for King Kebab in Valley. He was parked outside the shop on April 14 last year at 5.30pm.
The defendant was also there and he approached Mr Dieter-gill’s car. The men share a mutual former partner, the court heard.
There was a reference to difficulties she was allegedly having with her new boyfriend. The situation escalated and there was a “verbal additional support being provided by locum dentists.
“Routine examinations will be temporarily delayed,” she said. “However, urgent dental services will remain available, and appointments for patients already booked in for treatment will be honoured.”
On claims that some patients were only being offered two-yearly appointments, Ms Johnstone said this was in line with guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).
For adults, appointment intervals can range from three months to 24 months.
“Patient recall intervals are set in accordance with each patient’s individual risk profile,” she added.
An inability to recruit NHS dentists was blamed for a decision by a Wrexham dental practice to shed a quarter of its NHS patients last year. Some 3,000 people were discarded by the city’s Ruabon Road Dental Practice after three dentists left and one retired.
Despite the Welsh Government pumping an extra £2m into dentistry services last year, critics claimed NHS dentistry in the country was ‘edging closer to extinction.’ Anglesey has found itself in the firing line with three dental practices closing or withdrawing NHS services since late 2022.
Ms Johnstone said dental shortages were a national problem.
“The recruitment and retention of dental professionals is a challenge across the UK,” she said.
“Our ambitious plans to address this included the establishment of the North Wales Dental Academy, which will play a leading role in training and upskilling dental professionals across the region. The Academy’s aim is to drive innovative changes in dental care, linking educational opportunities for dental professionals with improved service provision for patients.”
The £1.6m Dental Academy was established in Bangor to improve access to dentistry and shorten waiting times. When it opened in November, 2022, it was flooded with inquiries from desperate patients.