Dental patients 'might never' get 6-month check-ups again

Dentists may never catch up with the backlog of patients waiting for check-ups, a leading dentist has warned.

Dr Russell Gidney said around 6,000 of his patients had not been given a routine check-up in the past year because of Covid restrictions.

NHS Wales figures show courses of dental treatment dropped by over three quarters in 2020-21. The Welsh government said dental services would get an extra £3m this year to support pandemic recovery.

Dr Gidney said fatigue among colleagues and recruitment problems threatened the return of regular appointments.

At his practice in Chepstow, Monmouthshire, he said check-ups have not been going ahead because patients who need urgent treatment were prioritised. 

Dentists are limited in number of patients they treat because of increased safety measures - such as wearing more PPE and cleaning between patients.

New operating procedures were announced last week, relaxing the safety measures for patients who show no signs of respiratory illness, such as colds and flu. But Dr Gidney said although new guidelines may increase patient volumes, they will "barely make a dent" into the "unprecedented backlogs".

Wales' Health Minister Eluned Morgan said there have been "long-standing issues" with access to dentistry, due to practices experiencing difficulties with recruitment and retention of dentists.

She said these issues were "impacting on the provision of NHS dental services".

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Source: BBC News, 2 December 2021