Dentist shortage hits tens of thousands

By Steve Bargeton, political editor

TENS OF thousands of pensioners and children in Fife and Tayside are being denied free dental treatment because they are not registered with an NHS dentist, The Courier can exclusively reveal.

Figures earlier this month showed almost half of the people in Scotland deprived of NHS dental treatment this year live in Fife and Tayside.

Shocking statistics made public last night show the brunt of the dental crisis is being borne by the over-60s and the under-16s—two groups entitled to free treatment.

Ministerial replies to Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP Tricia Marwick have revealed more than half the people aged 60 and over in Fife and Tayside are not registered with a dentist.

There are 78,000 people over the age of 60 living in Fife, of whom just over 29,000 are registered with an NHS dentist.

In Tayside, out of 94,000 people aged over 60, 40,500 are registered.

In Fife there are 71,000 children of whom 44,000 are registered,and in Tayside, out of 74,000 people aged 16 and under, 55,500 are on a dentist’s NHS list.

Earlier this month Mrs Marwick revealed that of the 32,700 NHS patients in Scotland who have had their registration “withdrawn,” 15,000 were in Fife and Tayside.

Last night she said it was “appalling” that people over 60, many of them pensioners, and children were being denied the free NHS dental treatment to which they are entitled.

She said, “Some may never have registered, but we know that thousands have been deregistered as dentists go private.”

The MSP said the situation makes a mockery of the Executive’s pledge that by the end of this year every pensioner in Scotland will have a free dental check up.

“This situation is absolutely appalling,” said Mrs Marwick.

“This quite clearly underlines the depth of the crisis in our dental service.

“These are the people who are entitled to free dental care, but tens of thousands of them are not registered and have to go without.

“An Executive report this week highlights the appalling oral health of our children, but if they can’t get a dentist, is it any surprise?”

Mrs Marwick has been dealing with complaints from deregistered patients, including a 77-year-old Kirkcaldy woman who was refused registration by three dentists.

NHS Fife has invested £200,000 in a three-surgery dental centre at the Lynebank Hospital in Dunfermline.

Executive funding has been approved for a second seven-surgery centre in Kirkcaldy, expected to be operational by mid-January.

NHS Fife has also appointed seven Polish dentists to work throughout Fife from February.