The Scottish Government has been urged to take urgent action amid fears over a “ticking time bomb of dental health problems” in Fife.
Patients have complained of significant difficulty in accessing NHS dentists since the Covid pandemic.
Figures show there are 32 fewer practices in Fife now than in 2019.
And 170,000 fewer NHS dental treatments were carried out in the region last year compared to three years previously.
Meanwhile, dentists say they are seeing more complex cases as people go longer without treatment.
Fife Liberal Democrat councillors are now calling on the Scottish Government to “get their act together” and save NHS dentistry.
Dunfermline South councillor James Calder said: “Doing nothing is not acceptable.”
Lack of NHS dentists ‘is not fair’
Mr Calder said there was a similar pattern across Scotland.
He has now tabled a motion, seconded by Cupar councillor Margaret Kennedy, to be heard at Thursday’s full Fife Council meeting.
It urges the council to write to the Scottish Government on the issue.
And he said: “The number of NHS-funded procedures in Fife has plummeted.
“We are now facing a ticking time bomb of dental health problems in Fife as a result.
“Many can’t afford private treatment, particularly in the current economic climate. This is not fair.”
Patients are ‘hunting from dentist to dentist’
Mr Calder’s comments come after Deputy First Minister John Swinney was challenged on the issue in Parliament this week.
North East Fife Lib Dem MSP Willie Rennie said local patients were hunting from dentist to dentist to access treatment.
“NHS dentists in north east Fife report a significant backlog that they’re having to work through,” he said.
“But there is a significant increase in decay because the patients have been waiting for so long.
“They are concerned, however, that they won’t be able to deal with this backlog because the cost of treatment is not matched by the fees they’re receiving from the government.”
Swinney: ‘Challenges in dealing with Covid recovery’
Mr Swinney said it was important people had access to NHS dentistry.
He agreed to look at the points made by Mr Rennie in Parliament, adding: “The government obviously reviews all of these issues on an ongoing basis.”
He added, however: “There are financial constraints under which we are operating.
“There will be challenges in dealing with the recovery from Covid and the significant backlogs that exist as a consequence of the absence of treatment for so many people for so long.”
Meanwhile, he pointed out more than 1.6 million NHS examination appointments were carried out across Scotland between April and October last year.
“This means we’re on course for over 3.5 million contacts in the 2022-23 financial year, an increase of 40% in NHS dental activity compared to the previous year,” he said.
