Half Of Cambridgeshire Residents Ignoring Dental Check-ups

Thu, 24 Jun 2010

New alarming figures have revealed that around over 300,000 people in Cambridgeshire have not visited an NHS dentist for at least two years.

Data released by NHS Cambridgeshire showed that only 303,124 patients – around half of the county’s population – have had an oral health check-up by an NHS dentist since May 2008.

The primary care trust (PCT) blamed the poor access figure on misconceptions over the availability of NHS dentists and fears over large dental charges.

NHS Cambridgeshire failed to meet the Government’s target of having 60 per cent of residents seen to by dentists over the past two years, but health bosses at the PCT said the target was unfair as many people in the county have gone private.

Andy Vowles, director of strategy and delivery at NHS Cambridgeshire, said: "We are aware that a large number of patients in Cambridgeshire choose to go to a private dentist and this means that we have not met our targets on the number of people accessing an NHS dentist ."

"It is clear however, that this is not a question of NHS dentists not being available, but simply about patients exercising their own choice."

He added: "Every year we see an increase in the number of people accessing NHS dentists in Cambridgeshire and patient satisfaction with their NHS dentist continues to be the highest in the eastern region."
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