UNIONS have warned NHS oral care is “hanging by a thread” with patients facing up to two-year waits for routine check-ups and some resorting to DIY dentistry.

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.

At least one town in England has been unable to attract a single applicant for vacant NHS dentist posts for two years.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said unhappiness with the NHS dental contract was a key factor.

Read more: Woman fears losing her teeth due to shortage of dentists 

It comes amid reports some patients are even pulling their own teeth out because they cannot get an appointment

The Great British Oral Health Report reveals millions of people are not getting the professional care they need.

The report said a fifth of people are treating themselves at home and some are carrying out their own extractions and fillings.

NHS England said patients who needed care the most should be prioritised, and said it had set up 600 urgent dental centres across England.

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 was NHS Portsmouth CCG, which lost 26 per cent of its NHS dentists over 12 months.

County Durham CCG has lost five per cent of dentists in the last year while Newcastle and Gateshead lost ten per cent.

Twenty-eight other English CCGs have lost at least ten per cent of their NHS dentists.

The BDA’s 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,” said Mr Charlwood.

“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.”

It is understood that one dental practice in Barnsley has had two NHS dental posts vacant for two years - without attracting a single applicant.

“Every practice struggling to fill vacancies translates into thousands of patients unable to access care,” said Mr Charlwood.

“Years of failed contracts and underfunding have meant a growing number of dentists no longer see the NHS as a place to build a career. The pandemic has upped the ante, and we are now facing down an exodus.

“Ministers have failed to grasp that we can’t have NHS dentistry without NHS dentists.

“Rather than punishing colleagues, we need a service that recognises and rewards commitment.”

Concern has also been raised about the usefulness of NHS England’s ‘Find a Dentist’ tool, which was created to help patients find an NHS dentist in their area.

Analysis shows around 75 per cent of practices in England had not updated the site to show whether they were accepting NHS patients or not within the last three months.

Interim director of Healthwatch Chris McCann said getting up to date information as to where people can access service is a “real issue”.

“Information on practices on the NHS website can be out-dated,” he added.

“We’ve seen some people having to contact up to 20 practices before finding someone to take them.”

Until last year, NHS dentists in England and Wales had been using the units of dental activity (UDA) system.

UDAs are used to measure a practice’s activity. Courses of treatment - for example, a check up or a filling, are banded into UDAs.

Practices are set targets of UDAs to achieve, and if that target is missed, the contract holder and the practice can be forced to pay back money - known as ‘claw back’.

Critics have claimed the UDA system does not incentivise preventative work, and is a key reason for dentists leaving the health service.

Wales moved away from the UDA system in 2020. The BDA has predicted the number of NHS dentists in Wales will increase in the coming years.

The number of NHS and HSCNI dentists in Scotland and Northern Ireland has remained steady over the last three years.

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