Dentists still struggling to hit pre-Covid workload
DENTISTS in Scotland are treating 400,000 fewer adults a month than before the pandemic.
NHS dental activity was at about 70 per cent in February compared with the same month in 2019.
For adults, there were about 600,000 treatments a month compared with one million pre-Covid, according to a report by Public Health Scotland.
PHS based its figures on the number of claims made by practices for work carried out on the NHS.
Scottish Labour health spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “This damning report lays bare the crisis engulfing NHS dentistry in Scotland.
“The SNP’s failure to support NHS dentistry has left us with a two-tier system, with those who can’t afford private care being left behind.”
On April 1, rules which cut the number of patients permitted in waiting rooms were lifted and dentists are no longer required to don full PPE.
The Scottish Government said it was confident this would help dentists “quickly return to more normal levels of activity”.