More patients than ever in Bradford and Airedale are being seen by an NHS dentist, latest figures reveal.

A new Health and Social Care Information Centre report compares data for March 31, 2006, with the same date six years later.

In Bradford and Airedale 193,669 adult patients had seen an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months on March 31, 2006 – 53.6 per cent of the population. By March 31, 2012 this had increased to 209,346 – 54.9 per cent of the population.

More children also received NHS dentistry. On March 31, 2006, 80,639 children had seen an NHS dentist in the previous 24 months – 64.7 per cent of the child population, compared to 90,662 on March 31, 2012 – 70 per cent of all children in the district.

The report also reveals a total of 414,608 courses of NHS dental treatment given in the district during 2011/2012.

Catherine Thatcher, deputy director of primary care at NHS Airedale, Bradford and Leeds, said: “We’ve been working very hard to make sure as many people as possible have access to a dentist, wherever they live across Bradford and Airedale.

“Earlier this year we opened our fourth new NHS dental practice in the district and we also successfully bid for extra dental funding to improve access and encourage more people to see a dentist.

“We used this funding to hold a series of access days which enabled over 4,000 people, many who had not been to the dentist in the past two years, to receive NHS dental care. Following the success of this scheme we are planning to run further new patient days in the autumn, and we will advertise details soon.

“We’ll continue to extend and improve services to make sure we’re doing everything we can to encourage people to see their dentist regularly.”

Anyone looking for a dentist should go to the NHS Choices website at nhs.uk.

People already on a waiting list at an NHS practice in Bradford and Airedale will be allocated places as soon as they become available.