The pandemic has made it difficult for most people to access both routine and emergency dental services.

That's according to a new report by watchdogs, Healthwatch.

While many dental practices have now reopened for routine services, they report that people are still unable to get an appointment for routine check-ups, hygienist appointments or for fillings.

This, they say, is because dentists are required to prioritise patients who need urgent care.

The report, published this week, also says: 'People have reported struggling to access NHS dentistry because practices are either not taking on new NHS patients or have no available NHS appointments. Some have been told to wait until the new year to book an appointment, while others have told us that their dentist has put them on a waiting list and will contact them when they can offer an appointment - with an indefinite amount of time to wait. There are some people who will in effect have to wait a year to book an appointment because their appointments keep being cancelled or postponed.'

While people were struggling to access dental care, inaccurate information from the NHS often left people even more frustrated and confused.

Some people reported contacting NHS 111 to help them find a dentist, only to be told to check the NHS 'Find a dentist' website, despite no practice being listed in their area. Others reported being told by NHS 111 about dental practices who would see NHS patients, only then to discover that they were not.

The report also highlights an unprecedented 452% rise in calls and complaints about dentistry over summer, with their chair, Sir Robert Francis QC, urging Government to act to resolve 'both long-standing and COVID-related issues in dentistry'.

Between March and the end of August 14.5 million fewer NHS dental procedures took place in England. The BDA has estimated that figure rose to over 19 million by the end of October.

Owing to official restrictions, 70% of practices are now operating at less than half their pre-pandemic capacity. 55% of practices estimate they can maintain their financial sustainability for 12 months or less.

Prior to the pandemic unmet need for NHS dental services in England was estimated at over 4 million people over 18, or nearly 1 in 10 of the adult population with families in Portsmouth facing ferry rides and patients in parts of Cornwall round trips of up to 120 miles to access care.

The British Dental Association has now backed calls from Healthwatch for the government to act on the ongoing crisis in dental services in England that has been cast into stark relief by the COVID pandemic.

The widely discredited, target-driven NHS contract – dubbed by the Commons Health Committee as “unfit for purpose” - funded care for little over half the population before the pandemic and prompted a collapse in morale within the workforce.

The BDA has urged current Health and Social Care Committee Chair Jeremy Hunt MP to resume the inquiry initiated in the last Parliament that was canned by the snap general election at the end of 2019.

British Dental Association Chair Eddie Crouch said: 'For many people dentistry effectively ceased to exist at lockdown, as a system already in crisis was pushed ever closer to the brink.

'The difference now is problems that have dogged families from Cornwall to Cumbria for decades are now the reality in every community in the UK.

'The arrival of COVID-19 vaccines will not solve the problems facing millions of our patients. Sadly business as usual in dentistry means postcode lotteries, failed contracts, and underfunding. The Government says the mantra is ‘build back better’. It must apply that logic to dental services.'

You can access the report here https://www.healthwatch.co.uk/sites/healthwatch.co...

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