‘Dental desert’ report says there are just 42 dentists per 100,000 people in Halton

Local residents felt the impact of this lack in provision as just 34.7 per cent of adults had seen a dentist in the past 24 months and 36.8 per cent of children had seen a dentist in the past 12 months.

The report states that as dentists continue to leave the NHS, these figures are likely to get worse. In 2020/21, there was a drop of almost 1,000 NHS dentists in England.

In 2021/22, the figure more than doubled with over 2,000 dentists leaving the NHS. With one fulltime dentist providing care for around 2,000 patients, this could mean that up to 4 million patients are left without access.

For residents living in these ‘dental deserts’, there is a wide, far-reaching threat beyond the immediate impact on their dental health.

Routine dental check-ups are a vital first line of defence against oral cancers and type-two diabetes as dentists are trained to spot the early warning signs of both.

Early detection of mouth cancer boosts a patient’s chance of survival from 50 per cent to 90 per cent. Fewer dentists mean fewer available appointments where these serious diseases can be caught in their early stages.

To fix the ongoing dental crisis, the ADG proposes six key actions, known as ‘Six to Fix’:

Increase the number of training places in the UKContinued recognition of EU trained dentists

Recognition of overseas qualifications

Simplify and speed up the process for dentists to get an NHS “performer number”

Allow more dental care professionals (DCPs) to initiate treatments

Dental system reform with new ways of working to retain staff in the NHS.

The ADG state that unless urgent action is taken by the Government to improve patient access in Halton and nationwide, these dental deserts will continue to grow, along with their subsequent health risks.

Neil Carmichael, chair of the ADG, said: “Dental deserts not only stretch across the whole of the East of England from East Yorkshire, through Lincolnshire and down to Norfolk but are now emerging in many other ‘red wall’ constituencies that the Government wishes to ‘level up’.

“Our fears of an exodus from NHS dentistry are proving to be founded and the number of NHS dentists working in England is now at the lowest level for a decade.”

“We welcome the Government’s commitment to reform of the recruitment and registration of overseas dentists - what needs to follow is NHS dental contract reform and investment in our future domestic workforce - only when this happens will we have a chance of tackling the oral health inequalities of England.”

Halton CCG has been approached for comment on the report.