RESIDENTS across the entire county of Somerset are unable to register with a new NHS dentist, a patient organisation has claimed. 

Healthwatch Somerset said a third of the calls it received in the three months to February 2022 were about problems accessing NHS dentistry, including calls concerning children and pregnant women.

The situation has become so bad the NHS has set up a phone line to help people access emergency dental care — however Healthcare Somerset said they still need to see a dentist to complete the work. 

“People are telling us they have called many dentists but cannot find one taking new patients,” Healthwatch Somerset manager Gill Keniston-Goble said. 

“We are also hearing from the public that NHS England is advising there are no dentists taking new NHS patients in Somerset.”

It comes amid growing concerns about an NHS dentistry crisis in England after the Association of Dental Groups found that 2,000 dentists quit the NHS last year.

New polling by Healthcare England today shows that two in five people have been experiencing difficulty booking NHS dental appointments while a quarter had to pay privately to access care. 

Toothless in England campaign co-ordinator Mark Jones said problems accessing NHS dental provision have now reached levels never seen before, spreading out from rural areas to major cities. 

He said successive governments were to blame for failing to tackle the “root of the problem — the NHS dental contract.” 

“The health inequalities we see don’t just affect individuals, but communities too,” Mr Jones added. “Focus on levelling up in this area is long overdue.”

An NHS spokesperson said the service had taken “unprecedented action” to support NHS dentists and had pledged an additional £50 million for people requiring urgent care treatment.