Campaigners in Wrexham have launched a petition calling for all under 18s to be guaranteed free dental treatment after it was revealed that none of the borough's dental practices were taking on new NHS patients.
Plaid Cymru activists launched the petition in Coedpoeth, where the Dant y Coed surgery recently handed back its NHS contract to Betsi Cadwaladr health board.
Councillor Marc Jones said:
"There is a dental crisis in Wales and the Dant y Coed practice handing back its contract was the spur to ensure that we don't let NHS dentistry collapse completely in this area. As things stand, only 27% of people in north Wales have access to an NHS dentist and the health board has admitted it doesn't know how many of the other 73% have access to a private dentist. We suspect that hundreds of thousands of people across the North have no dentist at all."This highlights the need for Welsh Government intervention - Plaid Cymru has long called for a Dental School in the North to ensure we have enough dentists to meet demand. But we also learn from dentists that new NHS contracts are making it more difficult to treat patients effectively and that needs to be looked at."Labour politicians are saying that the 12,000 patients at Dant y Coed have alternatives in Wrexham but the health board has confirmed that there are currently no dental practices in the county borough taking on new NHS patients. The options available are going private at an annual cost of £500 per family or have no dental cover at all."This is not a crisis that can be turned around overnight so our petition is realistic in calling for all under 18s to have access to NHS dental care. Children need to get the best start in life in terms of their health and dental care is no exception. The dentists at Dant y Coed want to be able to offer this service but Betsi Cadwaladr health board are not supporting that. The petition is aimed at changing that situation."
Please sign the online petition here
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