Most dentists in Dorset not taking new NHS patients, Healthwatch says

Healthwatch Dorset said the pandemic exacerbated existing problems with signing up with an NHS dentist

Only three out of 99 dental practices in Dorset are accepting new adult NHS patients, a health watchdog has said.

Healthwatch Dorset said its research, undertaken between September and November, also found that only 12 were accepting new child NHS patients.

The organisation shared the data with the BBC on the same day that NHS England announced £50m of extra funding for dentists before the end of March.

NHS England said the funding would help to "boost NHS dental services".

Louise Bate, manager of Healthwatch Dorset, said the research demonstrated the "very limited access" residents had to dental treatment.

She said she welcomed the new funding but would be "interested to see how much of an impact it really has for local people".

"I think this was a problem before the pandemic - but it's certainly been exacerbated by the pandemic," she added.

Dr Jonathan Mynors-Wallis said it would take time to improve the availability of dentists on the NHS

Dr Jonathan Mynors-Wallis, chair of the Dorset Local Dentists committee, said there "isn't a quick fix".

"Dentistry is a little bit like a super tanker - it takes a long time to turn around," he said.

"To put in place extra sessions we're going to have to make sure that the dentists are available, the surgeries are available and the support staff are available."

He said this might mean not all of the money would end up being used "because it's going to be difficult to mobilise everybody".

Sara Hurley, chief dental officer for England, said the new funding was "unprecedented" and would "boost NHS dental services".

She said: "The NHS is now getting key services like dentistry back to pre-pandemic levels - injecting an extra £50m into routine services will help provide check-ups and treatment for hundreds of thousands of people."