Like the many who have written to me, I was hopeful the new Government would bring in reforms to undo the disappearance of NHS dentistry from Taunton and Wellington which took place under the last Conservative administration.

 

While the recent announcement of 700,000 extra appointments is welcome, as the BDA has pointed out, that only amounts to two extra appointments per month per NHS dentist and there simply aren’t enough of them.

 

We think the government’s national figures also underestimate the position here Taunton and Wellington.

 

They said in February that one in four people have been unable to see an NHS dentist but my research in 2022 showed that figure was just over one in two in Taunton and Wellington

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The cases I’ve received since suggest that now the vast majority are going without an NHS dentist, and of course, many are going without any dentist at all.

 

At a time of a rising incidence of mouth cancers, we need to see much more progress from the government. Too many in our area are facing the choice to pay up - or live in pain with bills often running into hundreds of pounds which people can ill afford, especially given the increasing cost of living”.

 

The aim of this survey is to uncover the real effects of all this on people’s pockets.

 

While we have some data for the South West as a whole, I want to put the real evidence of how this is affecting people in front of ministers through a clear, transparent and evidenced report on dentistry in Taunton and Wellington.

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Please can I urge all constituents to respond to this quick survey so we can build the real evidence we need and I can present the strongest possible case in Parliament.

 

It’s one thing to say ‘we need more NHS dentists’ but so far the government simply haven’t delivered them which casts real doubt about whether their extra appointments will even happen.

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The survey will gather statistics for our area, as well as shared constituents’ experiences of how the system is failing them to help get the real action that’s needed.