Charlotte Cane MP Warns of National Crisis in NHS Dental Care

Charlotte Cane MP warns that NHS dentistry is facing a national crisis, as  new analysis reveals that millions of children and adults across the  country are struggling to access basic dental care 

Four in ten children, or over five million, had not seen a dentist in the year up to June, while  28 million adults, around 60%, have gone without care for two years or more. The Liberal  Democrats have warned that the system is buckling and unable to cope. 

Across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, including Charlotte Cane’s constituency of Ely  and East Cambridgeshire, at least 45% of children and 70% of adults have not seen a  dentist in two years.  

Charlotte has long been campaigning for improved dental services in the constituency, with  many local residents currently forced to travel long distances to see an NHS dentist.  

The Liberal Democrats have put forward a £750m dental rescue plan, which would end  ‘dental deserts’, areas where no NHS dentists are available for new patients. The plan would  bring dentists back to the NHS from the private sector by reforming the dental contract and would introduce an emergency scheme to guarantee access to free dental checkups for  children, new mothers, pregnant women and those on low incomes. 

Charlotte Cane, MP for Ely and East Cambridgeshire said: 

“This data is truly shocking and reveals a serious and urgent gap in our health service. Poor  dentist provision is not a new problem, but successive Governments have tweaked around  the edges of a broken system without fixing the underlying problems, including chronic  underfunding and a flawed dental contract. 

We want to see guaranteed access to an NHS dentist for all those who need emergency  care, and an introduction in dental hygiene to be brought to all schools and nurseries. It’s  vitally important that we fix this system and declare an end to dental deserts for good.”