The British Dental Association Scotland has demanded the system here is overhauled and brought into the 21st century.
The call for reform comes after research showed that six Scottish council areas are now ‘dental deserts’ with no practices able to take on new adult NHS patients within the next three months.
It also found that just one in four practices across the country are capable of taking on new NHS patients within the same time frame.
A new low margin/high volume model NHS dentists work to was rolled out in November 2023 with 66 percent off dentists saying the system was an improvement on the previous one, but nine out of 10 of them said more needed done too.
Only 22 percent said the new system enabled a move to a preventative model of care, while only seven percent believed it would enhance access for NHS patients.
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Even less, at five percent, thought it would support a reduction in oral health inequality.
David McColl, Chair of the British Dental Association’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee said: “The Scottish Government delivered needed reform, but we have been clear this can’t be the end of the road.
“The simple facts are many patients are unable to access NHS care, while practices have vacancies they can’t fill. It two sides of the same coin.
“Scotland needs a 21st century service in which dentists would choose to build a career. Ready to shift the focus from treatment to prevention.”
A spokesperson for the Scottish Government said: “We recognise that in some areas, particularly rural areas, access to dental services remains more challenging. We continue to make available a range of additional financial support locally and this has enabled a newly opened surgery in a Dumfries and Galloway practice to see an additional 500 new NHS patients since August and register another 1500 new patients.
“Almost one year on from dental payment reform, NHS dental services are responding well to the changes with the latest figures showing over 1 million courses of treatment were delivered to patients in the quarter ending June 2024.
“We are urgently engaging with our counterparts across the UK on the actions required to enhance access to services through increased dental workforce capacity, including improved international pipelines.”
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