One-third of people living in northwest Norfolk aren’t registered with a dental practice

From a survey by James Wild, it has emerged that more than one-third of people living in northwest Norfolk aren’t registered with a dental practice.

Furthermore, the survey revealed a significant backlog, reporting that, even before COVID-19, one third have waited over four weeks for a routine appointment.

The results conveyed that twenty per cent of patients have to wait for more than seven days to attend an emergency appointment.

Wild stated that a temporary fix would be to use teledentistry, as almost ninety per cent of respondents said they would use a mobile phone dental service.

MP for Putney, Fleur Anderson, stated: “There are serious consequences to the impact of COVID-19 on dental practices. My message today is simple. We are sleepwalking into the biggest oral health crisis since the creation of the NHS. Unless the government begins to recognise that dentistry is an essential health service, the sector will collapse. The current activity targets are unattainable and need to be scrapped.”