When was the last time you were able to see a dentist? If your answer was within the last year, you're doing better than 39% of children and more than half of adults in England. That's according to new figures which have caused one political party to start the call for an emergency rescue plan for NHS dentistry.
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00:00 New figures obtained by the Liberal Democrats found 4.4 million children in England were
00:05 not seen by an NHS dentist in the year to June 2023.
00:09 And the situation is even worse for adults. The figures show that 51% of them have not
00:14 been seen by an NHS dentist in the past two years.
00:17 It's an issue that's reflected in other parts of the UK too, with Senedd members in Wales
00:21 saying easy access to dentists was in crisis.
00:24 Commenting on the figures, British Dental Association Chairman Eddie Crouch said, "Our
00:29 youngest patients are already paying the price for a crisis made in Westminster. These access
00:33 problems are the result of political choices. Every political party needs to wake up and
00:38 offer a plan of action, otherwise this service won't have a future."
00:42 A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said, "We're making progress to boost NHS
00:47 dental services and the number of children seen by NHS dentists rose by more than 43%
00:52 last year. Further measures to improve access and increase the number of NHS dentists through
00:56 our dental recovery plan will be set out shortly.