Mum faces choice to 'feed kids or pay for dentist'

In 2022 a BBC investigation found nine in 10 NHS UK dental practices were not accepting new adult patients

A woman from Scarborough has said she faces choosing between "feeding my children or fixing their teeth" after the privatisation of one of the town's last remaining NHS dental practices.

Cheryl Mann said she was "devastated" when she heard the Falsgrave and Alma practice was to end NHS appointments.

The practice has sent a letter to patients saying from September it would be offering only private treatment, with existing NHS patients needing to pay for a dental plan.

An NHS spokesperson said the situation was "ultimately a practice decision".

Cheryl Mann said the decision to end NHS treatment at the practice would badly affect many people on low incomes

Ms Mann, 36, a mother of two teenage sons, has been a patient at the Alma Square dentist in Scarborough for 16 years and has a condition which means she suffers from constant pain and infection which can affect her teeth.

She said finding out her dentist was to go private had been "really scary".

"A private dentist is beyond our reach, we're struggling as it is," she said.

Ms Mann said if her children needed to go to the dentist she would have to choose "between filling up my food cupboards and heating my home or fixing my children's teeth".

"There's thousands of people going to be affected by this and a lot are on low incomes. We can't let this go on for another few years, it needs fixing now," she added.

'Dental desert'

Ms Mann said she had tried to find another practice in Scarborough which offered NHS treatment, but had been unsuccessful.

"There are none in the local area, I can't find any. I'll have to struggle and pay the monthly fees and just pray my children don't need any work doing," she said.

The Falsgrave and Alma dental practice said it would end NHS appointments from September

Alison Hume, the new Labour MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said Scarborough had become "a dental desert".

She added: "As far as the Alma and Falsgrave practices are concerned I understand that people have been sent letters out of the blue saying that they will not get NHS dental services from 1 September.

"It's completely unacceptable."

Ms Hume said she would "be talking to the provider and the commissioners at the Integrated Care Board, as they are ultimately responsible."

"It's high up my list and I'm on to it," she said.

Alison Hume, the new MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said constituents had already contacted her with concerns about NHS dentistry in Scarborough

The NHS Humber and North Yorkshire Integrated Care Board said it would work with the practices "to support patients who want to continue to use local NHS Services".

Joe Hendron, chair of the Yorkshire and Humberside Local Dental Committee, said: "We need to have a complete revision of the dental contract and also look at the amount of funding that's going into dentistry at this time, which needs to increase."

The Department of Health and Social Care said it planned to "reform the dental contract" and to "get the NHS back on its feet".

The statement said its mission included the delivery of "700,000 extra emergency dentistry appointments".

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