Children in an affluent northern town have to wait years to see an NHS dentist to have a painful tooth removed in the longest wait times in England, an investigation claims.
Youngsters in desirable spa town Harrogate, North Yorkshire, are waiting on average around 18 months for teeth extractions and procedures under general anaesthetic.
According to BBC News, those trying to access the Community Dental Service (CDS) overseen by the Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust faced an average wait of 80 weeks, leaving some children in prolonged pain.
Across England more than 12,000 under-18s were said to be on waiting lists for treatment with CDS’s around the country, according to data obtained by the Liberal Democrats from the NHS Business Services Authority.
The NHS website advises that in cases of pain coming teeth a patient should “see a dentist if you have toothache that lasts more than two days”.
In contrast to the waits in Harrogate, the investigation found some children in other areas of England, like those covered by the Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust, had a wait of just three weeks.
The NHS says children who may need Community Dental Services include those “extensive untreated tooth decay”, kids who might be “anxious” and those with “physical or learning disabilities or certain medical conditions”.
CDS are also meant to cater for vulnerable youngsters, such as those in foster care or on the “at-risk” register.
For children aged six to 10, tooth decay is the most common reason they would be admitted to hospital the BBC said, with Yorkshire and Hunmber having the highest rate of extractions for those under 19. The East Midlands had the lowest.
Dentist charity Teeth Team visit children in primary schools in East Yorkshire, Sarah Feldt from the charity, told the BBC a “high proportion” of the pupils they see are in “urgent need” of care.
She said: “I like the fact that we’re coming into the schools, because sometimes that’s the only kind of time the children will see a dentist.
“We all know that the access to a dentist at the moment is really difficult. So to be able to do that, I think it’s really positive.”
A Department of Health and Social Care official said told the broadcaster they were “working to improve access to NHS dental care” and that the number of children seeing NHS dentists in 2022 rose by 43.6 percent.
The said: “We have increased the funding practices receive for urgent care, to encourage dentists to provide more NHS treatments and we’re also taking preventative measures to improve children’s oral health, such as expanding water-fluoridation schemes – which can significantly reduce the number of children experiencing tooth decay. Further reforms are planned for this year.”
Express.co.uk have approached Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust for comment.
