First students on new University of Suffolk dental course begin studies

The BSc (Hons) dental hygiene and dental therapy programme has welcomed its first batch of 24 students

A new dental course run by the University of Suffolk is "very important" and will support oral health in the community, it is claimed.

The BSc (Hons) dental hygiene and dental therapy programme has welcomed its first batch of 24 students.

The university said it hoped the course would help meet "local needs for dental professionals".

Course leader Cátia Marques said she believed it would "make a big, big difference" to Suffolk and beyond.

A BBC investigation in 2022 found nine in 10 NHS dental practices across the UK were not accepting new adult patients for treatment on the NHS.

It found the lack of NHS appointments had led people to drive hundreds of miles in search of treatment, pull out their own teeth without anaesthesia or resort to making their own improvised dentures.

While the number of NHS treatments has started to rise, it is still below pre-pandemic levels.