Eight dental surgeries in Bradford taking new NHS patients

Judith Cummins MP (Bradford South, Labour) warned the issue is forcing some children to live in pain with tooth decay until A&E is the only option.

The MP, who has backed the T&A’s Stop the Rot campaign since it launched in 2018, said access to a dentist should not be a luxury. 

Dentists open to NHS patients in Bradford district

A search on the NHS’ Find a Dentist service shows many sites are not accepting new NHS patients or only taking on NHS patients for specialist dental care by referral. 

Just eight dentist surgeries are listed as accepting applications from NHS patients who are under the age of 17 or 18 or adults entitled to free dental care.

Even then, the NHS site says these practices are only accepting the above patients “when availability allows”.

A generic image of someone's teeth being checked by a dentist

It comes after the British Dental Association (BDA) painted the current picture by analysing data from the GP Survey by Ipsos.

The BDA found 13 million people – the equivalent of 28 per cent of England’s adult population – have an unmet need for NHS dentistry.

An estimated 5.6 million adults also tried and failed to secure a dental appointment in the last two years, the BDA said.

A further 780,000 people are on a waiting list for an NHS dentist.

Judith Cummins MP, pictured (Image: Submitted)

Ms Cummins said: “I have campaigned for nine years now on the crisis in dentistry and the near impossibility of getting an NHS dentist in Bradford.

“Instead, many parents have been cruelly forced to either pay for expensive treatment they can’t afford or watch their children live in pain until the decay is so bad that A&E is the only option.

Some Bradford children are living in pain until tooth decay is so bad that A&E is the only option, an MP warned. A photo of the A&E department at the BRI, pictured above

“For over a decade, the last Conservative Government oversaw the managed decline of NHS dentistry that has made rotting teeth one of the most common reasons that children are admitted to hospital.

“In contrast, the new Health Secretary met with leading dentists in the very first week of this Labour government.”

The latest study on how a lack of dentist access is impacting children was carried out by Queen Mary University.

It focused on 608,278 records of children living in the North East of London.

Of the total, some 3,034 children had at least one tooth extracted under general anaesthetic, which is performed in a hospital setting.

Researchers said that while the prevalence of at least one tooth extraction among the age group was “low”, there were “marked ethnic inequalities”.

The research also showed “the prevalence in the most deprived areas was more than three times higher than in the least deprived areas”.

Children from white Irish, Bangladeshi, Pakistani, and other Asian ethnic backgrounds who were registered with a GP in Tower Hamlets were more likely to have had at least one tooth removed compared to those born earlier, of a white British ethnic background, and registered with a GP in Newham.

Eddie Crouch, chairman of the BDA, said: “This is a telling reminder for a new government that decay and deprivation go hand-in-hand.

(Image: PA)

“Children in our poorest communities – who are also the least likely to see a dentist – remain the hardest hit.

“We need urgent action, both to rescue NHS dentistry and to put promises on prevention in practice.”

Following the party’s victory at the July 4 vote, Health Secretary Wes Streeting started discussions on reforming the NHS dental contract.

During the General Election campaign, Labour pledged to create 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments a year as well as recruiting new dentists to under-served areas.

The party also said it would introduce supervised toothbrushing for three to five-year-olds.

Ms Cummins said: “I am pleased that Labour committed in their manifesto to address the immediate crisis by providing 700,000 more urgent dental appointments, and a drive to recruit new dentists where they are needed most.

“Access to an NHS dentist is not a luxury, it is a necessity. I will continue to campaign for a well-functioning, reformed NHS dental service that sees early prevention as the foundation of good oral health, where everyone who needs a dentist can get one.”

The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment.