East Anglia the 'Sahara of dental deserts' - minister

According to the British Dental Association, 90,000 people in the East of England are on a waiting list for an NHS dentist

The new health secretary has described part of the East of England as "the Sahara of dental deserts".

Wes Streeting gave the title to Norfolk and Waveney, in Suffolk, as the state of dentistry in the east dominated the first session of health questions since the general election.

Local MPs asked about reforming the way dentists are paid for NHS work and appealed for a dental school for Norfolk.

Ministers promised to "work at pace" to address the issues.

The health secretary knows about the problems of finding an NHS dentist in Norfolk and Suffolk.

He met dental patients and campaigners in Lowestoft, in Suffolk, just days before the election.

"It is appalling that Norfolk and Waveney are so poorly served in terms of dentistry.

"There are only 36 dentists per 100,000 people, compared with the national average of 53," he told MPs.

"Members should know that it is the Sahara of dental deserts," he said.

Contract talks

Mr Streeting said he had already started talking to the British Dental Association (BDA) about changes to the NHS contract to try to encourage more dentists to do NHS work.

The BDA - which recently reported that 90,000 people in the east of England are on a waiting list for an NHS dentist and that 680,000 had tried and failed to secure an appointment - said the talks had been encouraging.

In answer to a question from Steffan Aquarone, the new Liberal Democrat MP for North Norfolk, the care minister, Stephen Kinnock, promised to provide 700,000 more urgent dental appointments and recruit dentists to areas that need them.

Another new MP, Alice Macdonald, who won the Norwich North seat for Labour, and the Conservative MP for Mid Norfolk, George Freeman, talked about the campaign for a dental school at the University of East Anglia, in Norwich.

Mr Streeting agreed to meet local MPs to discuss it further.