24,000 children in Shropshire not seen by NHS dentist

More than 24,000 children in Shropshire were not seen by an NHS dentist in the past year, House of Commons Library research commissioned by the Liberal Democrats has revealed.

North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan has called for an end to ‘dental deserts’ saying that these figures were a ‘damning indictment’ of Conservative party’s legacy of running local health services into the ground.

The research from the House of Commons Library, estimates the number of children who weren’t seen by an NHS dentist in the year to March 2024, based on the latest data from the health service.

It also revealed the proportion of children not seen by an NHS dentist in Shropshire. For the previous year, a staggering 41% of children (24,433) had not been seen by an NHS dentist.

This is despite the NHS recommending that under-18s see a dentist at least once a year because their teeth can decay faster, compared to two years for adults. Tooth decay is also the leading cause of hospital admissions for children aged 6-10.

Helen Morgan, now the Lib Dem Spokesperson for Health, is calling for an emergency rescue plan for NHS dentistry, including spending any funding that has gone unspent in recent years to boost the number of appointments as well as the removal of VAT on children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire and Liberal Democrat spokesperson for Health and Social Care, said, “I have heard so many stories of desperate parents unable to find an NHS dentist anywhere in Shropshire. It is crucial that children can see a dentist when they need one and far too often that is proving impossible.

“The Labour government must make fixing local health services like dentistry a top priority after the Conservatives ran them into the ground.

“The only way we will rescue dentistry is by the government investing in local health services at the Budget. It’s time to end dental deserts so that every child can see a dentist when they need to.”