Rutland residents are struggling to find NHS dentists in the area, reflecting the nationwide decline in patients being seen by the NHS as released in a National Health Service report this month.

With the relocation of MyDentist, the practice have become completely private, dropping their NHS contract just in time for their relocation to Maresfield Road.

With some Rutland residents already waiting over 3 years on NHS wait lists, this means that local people will have higher dentistry bills and, with rising living costs, may have to choose between healthcare and paying for food and fuel.

In England, the number of adults seen by NHS dentists within recommended timeframes decreased by 9.5% in June 2022 against the previous year, a report published by NHS Digital today shows.

16.4m adults in England were seen for NHS dental treatment in the 24 months up to June 2022, according to NHS Dental Statistics, England 2021-221.

In Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland only 98,128 adults and 36,249 children were seen by NHS dentists in this time period.

This is a nationwide reduction of 9.5% compared to the 24 months up to June 2021, when 18.1m adults were seen2. It is a reduction of 25.3% compared to the 24 months up to June 2019, when 22.0m adults were seen3.

The report also shows that 5.6m children were seen in the 12 months up to June 20224. This is an increase of 42.1% compared to the 12 months up to June 2021 when 3.9m were seen.

When comparing against the 12 months up to June 2019, the report shows a decrease of 20.2%, with 7.0m children seen.

In 2021-22, 26.4m courses of treatment5 were delivered by NHS dentists. This is an increase of 120.0% compared to the number delivered in 2020-21, which was 12.0m. It is a decrease of 33.6% compared with the number delivered in 2018-19, which was 39.7m6.

In addition, 3.8m urgent courses of treatment were delivered in 2021-22. This is an increase of 5.7% compared to the number delivered in 2020-21 and an increase of 4.5% compared with the number delivered in 2018-19, which was 3.6m.

Are you struggling to find and NHS dentist? Have you been waiting for years to be accepted to an NHS dentist, or did you have to go private?

Get in touch by emailing [email protected].