The LGA has called on the Government to address shortages in NHS dentists, with more deprived or rural councils having fewer dentists than more affluent areas.
LGA analysis of data collected by the Care Quality Commission and published on LG Inform, the LGA’s local area benchmarking tool, shows that no local authority area has more than one dentist per 1,000 of the population providing affordable NHS treatment.
The top 10 council areas for shortages mainly have higher than average levels of deprivation or of residents in rural areas.
There are wide variations in the availability of NHS dentists, with the City of Westminster having more than six times the number of NHS dentists per 1,000 of population compared with Ashfield, the area with the lowest number in the country.
To tackle the growing shortage of NHS dentists, the LGA has urged ministers to reform the dental contract and ensure the £762 million clawback taken by the Treasury over the past 10 years from dental practices is reinvested into subsidised dental treatments.
Dentists are commissioned by NHS England to provide treatment, although it is the responsibility of councils to run programmes to promote good oral health and prevent problems, particularly among children.
Cllr David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board, said: “As we continue to feel the effect of the cost-of-living crisis, a lack of NHS dentists could risk people choosing to forgo routine dental treatments or even resort to DIY dentistry, risking more costly emergency dental treatments being needed further down the line.
“Councils need a real-terms increase in their public health grant so they can provide vital oral health improvement programmes to prevent longer-term health problems.”