HEALTH Ministers are being urged to visit York to see for themselves how dire the dental crisis is and meet residents waiting in agony for treatment.
Cllr Carol Runciman issued the invitation after a new investigation of dentistry services across the UK carried out by the BBC found that none of the 12 NHS dentistry practices contacted in York was accepting new patients.
Speaking after the growing problems were discussed at a City of York Council Health and Wellbeing Board, the LibDem councillor said Yorkshire and the Humber was found to be amongst the worst hit areas in the country, where 98 per cent of practices were not accepting new adult NHS patients.
“These shocking figures prove NHS dentistry in York is at breaking point," she said.
“Our NHS dental system is broken because this Government has failed to listen to long borne problems facing the NHS and failed to invest. They have done next to nothing to tackle this crisis.
“Many residents are now being forced to spend hundreds if not thousands of pounds on private dental care with some even resorting to their own at-home DIY dentistry.
"A Health Minister ought to visit our area to meet with local dentists and patients to hear just how bad things have become."
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