Rachael Maskell MP vows to end York 'dental desert'

Rachael Maskell told The Press she continues to meet with members of the city’s dental community to “plan our way out of this crisis”.

It comes after the oral health of the population has “significantly been compromised” as more dentists stop treating NHS patients, the Labour MP for York Central added.

The Government has planned to make 700,000 more dental appointments available for urgent and emergency care and 100,000 more dental appointments for children nationally.

Rachael Maskell, MP for York Central (Image: Supplied) These plans also include providing supervised toothbrushing for three to five year olds to prevent infant tooth decay

But until these plans come to fruition, Ms Maskell said, the Integrated Care Board for the Humber and North Yorkshire is working to “enable dentists to have greater flexibilities in their services to meet population needs, enhance post qualification dental training and plug gaps in service provision”.

“NHS dentistry is starting to turn a corner; however everyone must be able to have access to this basic health care in their community and be able to prevent poor oral health.

“I will continue to work with partners to ensure that residents get the benefit of these reforms.”

Tooth decay issues among young children in England 'truly Dickensian', says health minister

The update comes after health minister Stephen Kinnock warned that tooth decay issues among young children in England are “truly Dickensian”.

He said the Government “inherited a mess” but is committed to reforming the dental contract and working with the British Dental Association (BDA) to focus on prevention and to retain NHS dentists.

Stephen Kinnock (Image: PA) He also told MPs that a “staggering” 28 per cent of the country has an unmet need for NHS dentistry, adding: “That’s 13 million people, so there are so many issues that we need to resolve.”

Data published by the NHS in September suggests that tooth decay remains the leading cause for hospital admissions among five to nine-year-olds in England.

Some 19,381 children in this age bracket were admitted to hospital in 2023/24 because of tooth decay.

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Speaking at health questions in the Commons, Mr Kinnock told Labour MP Lee Pitcher: “The scale of the problem that he points out is massive.

“One of the most shocking statistics I discovered since I took up this position is the most common reason for children aged five to nine being admitted to hospital is for tooth decay.

“It is completely and utterly shocking, it is truly Dickensian.

“We cannot fix this overnight therefore. We’re committed to reforming the dental contract, working with the BDA to focus on prevention and retention of NHS dentists.

“We’re also working at pace to ensure that patients can access 700,000 additional urgent dental appointments.”