'Care homes are being deprived of dental services'

A care home manager said it had become an "impossibility" to get NHS dentists to visit her elderly residents when they needed treatment.

Liz Wynn, of Southminster Residential Home, near Maldon in Essex, said she had battled for years for site visits.

It comes as a health watchdog revealed that 25% of care home providers said their patients were denied dental care.

NHS Mid and South Essex said it was considering a number of approaches to improve access for housebound patients.

Ms Wynn said the shortage of NHS community dentists available to come into the home to carry out check-ups and treatment had been an "on-going concern" for almost 10 years.

Ms Wynn said the home relied on its oral care home procedures - such as checking residents' mouths daily - to prevent problems from escalating. However, she said while its residents were "our family", conditions such as dementia made it difficult to spot when patients were in pain.

She also said poor dental hygiene in the elderly could result in a number of potentially life-threatening infections.

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Source: BBC News, 24 April 2023