BATH’S MP Wera Hobhouse has delivered a speech in Westminster Hall that called for urgent and radical action to address the dental crisis in the South West of England.

Mrs Hobhouse highlighted the startling statistics on dental care in Bath and North East Somerset, where over 105,000 adults have not seen a dentist in two years, and nearly 15,000 children were not seen by an NHS dentist last year.

The British Dental Association has warned that NHS dentistry is facing an existential threat, and Hobhouse laid the blame at the Conservative Government’s doorstep.

The MP also expressed concern about the alarming rate at which staff are leaving NHS dentistry, with one in eight approaching retirement and 14 per cent close to leaving the profession. She called for a strategy to fill the huge staffing gaps and a workforce plan.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for an NHS dental healthcare plan to ensure everyone can access affordable dental care when they need it.

Mrs Hobhouse demanded the immediate investment of the money set aside for NHS dentistry, and focus on boosting the number of NHS appointments. She also called for a wholesale reform of the dental contract so dentists are incentivised to take on NHS patients.

Mrs Hobhouse said: “Dental care is a right which everyone in the South West and beyond should be entitled to and it is time that the Government were brought round to this fact.

“This is a national scandal and my constituents have been left to suffer. The shortage of NHS dentists means it is nearly impossible to get a dentist appointment in Bath.”

“The government does not efficiently track the number of NHS dentists either. A dentist who performs only one NHS check-up in a year would still be classified as an NHS dentist. My constituents deserve better than this and should be entitled to know what services are genuinely available for them and their families.”