Toothless in England launches new Isle of Wight campaign
Toothless in England has launched a new campaign on the Isle of Wight.
The group, which formed during the pandemic to raise awareness of NHS dental access issues, is running a new campaign calling for access to an NHS dentist for everyone on the Isle of Wight.
Dentist numbers have fallen sharply on the island in the last five years meaning that patients are struggling to get appointments. There has been an increase in DIY dentistry and many people are having to travel to the mainland to see a dentist. Waiting times for adults and children have increased since 2020 and there are concerns about the impact of patients missing out on routine appointments.
One of the issues highlighted by the campaign group is the risk of missed opportunities to detect mouth cancer. Dentists perform oral cancer checks as standard during routine check-ups but with so many people not attending regularly, there is a fear that thousands of cases could go undetected. Oral cancer, like most forms of cancer, is most deadly when diagnosed at an advanced stage.
Toothless in England spokesman, Chris Mace, said that it had been impossible to find an NHS dentist since moving to the island in October 2021. Practices are only offering private appointments and there isn’t even an option to join a waiting list for NHS dental places.
The government recently announced that it was launching a review into NHS dentistry after a study by the BBC and the British Dental Association revealed that 90% of UK practices were not accepting new NHS adult patients in 2022.
For more news click here.
Join this Discussion