Dentaid hosts fourth clinic in Suffolk
Dental charity, Dentaid, has hosted its fourth clinic in Suffolk to try to plug gaps in NHS provision.
Dentaid volunteers have already visited the county multiple times in the last two years to help patients who cannot get an appointment to access the treatment they need. Local councillors contacted the charity to ask for help for residents who couldn’t get urgent appointments.
On Thursday and Friday the 20th and 21st of October, volunteers from Dentaid treated patients in Haverhill and Hadleigh.
One patient who was hoping to benefit from the pop-up clinic was Stephen James, who moved to the area in 2016 and hasn’t been able to find a dentist since. Speaking before the Dentaid visit, Mr James said he needed “five or six fillings” and treatment for bleeding gums and crumbling front teeth. He has been quoted around £2,000 for private treatment, which he said was not affordable.
Another resident who has struggled to access NHS dental care in the region is Blaze Champion, who lost “over half a tooth” a few years ago and hasn’t been able to find an NHS dentist since. Mr Champion, 27, added that the cost of living has made it impossible for patients to consider private treatment but said that he had been looking at all kinds of ways of raising money, including selling his possessions to get a bit of money to put towards dental costs.
Jill Harding, a Dentaid volunteer, said that Suffolk had been highlighted as an area with “particular need.” Since the pandemic, she said the demand for support from the charity has “absolutely skyrocketed.”
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