NHS dentistry is “hanging by a thread” with some patients waiting two years for routine check ups, unions have warned.
BBC analysis of data from England and Wales shows more than 2,500 dental posts were lost across both countries – made up of more than 1,000 dentists, some of whom worked in multiple areas.
The BBC added that it understands a Barnsley-based dental practice had two NHS dental posts vacant for two years – without attracting a single applicant.
According to the British Dental Association (BDA), a key contributory factor has been unhappiness with the NHS dental contract.
NHS England said patients who needed care the most should be prioritised, adding it has set up 600 urgent dental centres across England.
The data revealed the number of NHS dentists working in two English clinical commissioning group areas (CCGs) fell by more than a quarter in the year ending March 31, 2021, with the combined equivalent of 2,435 dentists leaving the health service.
The worst-affected area was NHS Portsmouth CCG, which lost 26% of its NHS dentists over a single year, while 28 other English CCGs have lost at least 10% of their NHS dentists.
The BDA’s general dental practice committee chairman Shawn Charlwood warned significant numbers of dentists were planning on leaving the NHS.
“NHS dentistry is hanging by a thread, because without NHS dentists, there will be no NHS dentistry,” Charlwood told the BBC.
“It’s a really serious situation and every dentist that is lost or every vacancy for NHS dentistry that remains unfilled affects thousands of patients in terms of care and their ability to access care.”
