Suffolk campaigners call for major action to improve dentistry provisions in Leiston
The last remaining NHS dentist in the town closed in April 2021.
Campaigners from Suffolk have been gathering in Leiston today (Tuesday 9th April) calling for major action to improve the state of dentistry provisions in the town.
The last remaining NHS dentist shut it's doors for good in April 2021, something that campaigners say has left them struggling to access any dental treatment.
Emily Casterton's six-year-old son has never been to the dentist, she tells us it's because it's simply too expensive to go private, and she has gone as far as Norfolk and Essex to seek an NHS dentist:
"He hasn't been yet, due to finances really. It's been impossible to find an NHS dentist. We have lived here for four years, but I have tried as far as Norfolk and Essex, calling different dentists trying to get him in somewhere."
"As a single mum to pay privately for dental treatment is quite a lot really.
"It is a worry, especially as they grow and they get their big teeth coming through, whether they need any other treatment, there's just no way of knowing if it's okay."
"I haven't seen a dentist since moving here, and I definitely need one."
The Government recently announced its National Dental Recovery Plan, promising improvements including offering financial incentives to encourage dentists to work in areas where there was a lack of NHS care.
The Health Secretary Victoria Atkins says the plan will fund more than 1.5 million additional NHS dentistry treatments or 2.5 million NHS dentistry appointments, and says the plan sets out a meaningful and practical set of actions that will help all of us look after our teeth now and in the future.