New research has revealed that more than 14,000 children in Bath and North East Somerset were not seen by an NHS dentist in the past year.
The House of Commons Library research was commissioned by the Liberal Democrats and the Office of Wera Hobhouse.
The Bath MP has now called for an end to ‘dental deserts’, saying that the figures were a “damning indictment” of the Conservative party’s legacy of “running local health services into the ground”.
The research, from the House of Commons Library, estimates the number of children who weren’t seen by an NHS dentist in the year to March 2024, based on the latest data from the health service.
It also revealed the proportion of children not seen by an NHS dentist in Bath and North East Somerset. For the previous year, almost 40% of children had not been seen by an NHS dentist.
This is despite the NHS recommending that under-18s see a dentist at least once a year because their teeth can decay faster, compared to two years for adults.
Tooth decay is also the leading cause of hospital admissions for children aged 6-10.
The Liberal Democrats are calling for an emergency rescue plan for NHS dentistry, including spending any funding that has gone unspent in recent years to boost the number of appointments as well as the removal of VAT on children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste.
Wera Hobhouse said: “We have been struggling with a ‘dental desert’ in Bath for far too long now. Barriers to accessing an NHS dentist mean that many families are forced to choose between going private or risking their children’s dental health.
“Children deserve to have the best possible start in life – and having good dental health lays the very foundation for this.
“Instead, the Conservatives have run local health services, including dentistry, into the ground, leaving children in Bath to pay the price.
“We urgently need the new government to commit to investing in local health services at the Budget and bringing an end to ‘dental deserts’ so that every child in Bath can see a dentist when they need to.”
