Efforts to get people to the dentists in Newcastle and the surrounding areas are beginning to succeed thanks to local health official’s innovative projects.
A national funding boost of £28m has meant that over 1.6 million people in the North-East now have access to an NHS dentist.
Initiatives in County Durham, Darlington and the Tyne have helped improved numbers for dentists. The initiatives include new practices have opened at Bowburn, Esh Winning and the Eastbourne area of Darlington and open events for young children and their family where they can learn about oral health and visits to the dentists.
Deputy Director of Public Health with NHS County Durham and Darlington Public Health Team, David Landes, said: “We are pleased to see that there have been increases in both children and adults securing access to NHS dental services.
“This has been achieved by significant investments in new dental services over the years.
“An informal approach with the public has had significant benefits in allowing parents to acclimatise their children to a dental practice where there might be concerns regarding taking them to their first appointment. We are delighted with all the hard work put in by our local NHS dental practices to make this happen.”
These initiatives have meant that over 70% of children in County Durham aged five to nine have seen a dentist and over 80% of children aged five to nine in Darlington have seen a dentist.
The government made a commitment to improving the number of people seeing an NHS dentist.
Health Secretary Andrew Lansley said: “I am delighted that an extra one million people are now seeing dentists through the NHS. This just shows that NHS dentistry is becoming more accessible.
“We want to make sure that this progress continues and that dentists give the highest standards of care as well as treating more patients. That is why we are testing new ways of working across the country.
“We will use the findings from these trials to develop a new dental contract which will help to improve the quality of dental treatment patients receive.”