Nearly half (44.6%) of UK children have not seen an NHS dentist for over 12 months, according to new data from the House of Commons Library.
This equates to more than 5.35 million children – an increase of almost half a million since pre-pandemic data.
The House of Commons Library analysed NHS data on dentists and dental practices in each constituency, highlighting how this data has changed over time and the percentage of people that have recently seen a dentist.
Hackney was found to be one of the worst performing areas, with 62.2% not seeing an NHS dentist in the last year – nearly two in three children. Other constituencies with the worst rates of NHS dental access for children included Herefordshire, Portsmouth, Thurrock and the Isle of Wight.
The best performing areas included the City of London with just 9% of children not seeing an NHS dentist, followed by 21.9% in Redcar and Cleveland, and 23.4% in Blackburn with Darwen.
NHS in ‘critical’ state
In addition, more than half of adults (59.7%) in the UK have not seen an NHS dentist in the past year. This percentage is also higher than pre-pandemic data, with 50.6% of adults not seeing a dentist in 2019.
The worst performing areas for adults included Herefordshire, Plymouth and Tower Hamlets, while some of best were Wigan, Sunderland and Redcar, and Cleveland.
This follows a NHS report which found that ‘urgent action’ is needed on the NHS dental contract.
The report was written by Lord Ara Darzi, director of the Institute of Global Health Innovation at Imperial College, London and an honorary consultant surgeon at Imperial College Hospital NHS Trust.
His independent investigation into the state of the NHS concluded that the service is in a ‘critical condition’. He stated: ‘There are enough dentists in England, just not enough dentists willing to do enough NHS work.’
He also added: ‘Although I have worked in the NHS for more than 30 years, I have been shocked by what I have found during this investigation – not just in the health service but in the state of the nation’s health.
‘We want to deliver high quality care for all but far too many people are waiting for too long and in too many clinical areas, quality of care has gone backwards.
‘My colleagues in the NHS are working harder than ever but our productivity has fallen.’
Click here for the full House of Commons Library findings.
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