BBC research suggests half of dental practices aren’t accepting new patients
Research conducted by the BBC suggests that half of dental practices in the country aren’t accepting new adult patients.
According to BBC News, around 50 percent of the nation’s 2,500 dental practices are not currently accepting new NHS adult patients. The study also suggested that 40 percent aren’t taking on new child patients.
The British Dental Association claims that the figures are representative of an “emerging crisis” in England, with fears that a growing number of people are finding it difficult to get a dental appointment.
Despite the figures, the NHS claims that the most recent survey indicates that 95 percent of patients who wanted an appointment were able to get one. Last year, the NHS provided 39 million units of dental treatment.
Rebecca Brearey and Nick Oldroyd, from Dewsbury, are a stark example of access problems in England. The couple claimed to have looked for a dentist for four years without success and Rebecca said that she has been told that there is a minimum waiting time of 2 years. Rebecca said that the state of her teeth has caused her to become depressed and isolated and one tooth was giving her so much pain that she decided to rip it out after drinking alcohol and taking painkillers. She said both her and her partner have begged to see a dentist, but they have been unable to get treatment.
Nazreen Akhtar, from Bradford, has struggled to get her children into a local dental practice and it has taken around 5 years to get both children registered with the same dentist.
BBC News analysed data from the NHS Choices website, which contains information about 2,500 dental practices and whether or not they are taking on new NHS patients. It was found that 48 percent were not accepting new adult patients and 40 percent were not taking child applications.
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