Dentaid mobile clinic treats 35 patients in Bury St Edmunds
A mobile dental unit run by the charity, Dentaid, provided free treatment for 35 patients on a visit to Bury St Edmunds on May 19th.
The charity stepped in to help plug gaps in NHS dental provision in the county, which is one of the worst-affected areas in terms of dental access. Dentaid’s mobile van has already visited Suffolk twice in the last year amid ongoing struggles to recruit and retain NHS dental professionals.
The demand for free treatment was high and the Dentaid team had to turn patients away in Bury St Edmunds because they reached capacity. During the six-hour clinic, the team treated 35 patients and had to turn around 25 people away.
On the day before the Bury St Edmunds clinic, the unit was stationed in Leiston, a town that has been a focal point of headlines covering the dental access crisis. In 2021, the residents of Leiston were left without a dentist following the closure of the last remaining surgery. There is still no NHS dental practice in Leiston. Dentaid volunteers treated 33 patients on May 18th.
Statistics show that the number of NHS dentists working in Suffolk has decreased by 27% since 2020. This makes West Suffolk the joint third worst-affected area in England.
The Dentaid visit was organised by campaign group, Toothless in Suffolk, and local councils. Co-founder of the group, Mark Jones, said that the demand for dental care was incredibly high in the area and had “overwhelmed the charity.” He called for urgent action from the government and stressed that patients “deserve better in the 21st century.”
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