More seeking emergency dental treatment as NHS faces problems

More and more of the residents of Wiltshire are now seeking emergency help due to increasing difficulty getting an appointment at an NHS dentist, as claimed by the Tories.

These claims are given alongside official figures showing that 211 of the county’s residents have undergone emergency hospital admissions in order to get dental treatment in the period 2007/8.

The estimated cost of these treatments to the tax payer, as cited by the Tories, is £125,000.

The figures, from the Information Centre, also showed that 22,000 across England have been admitted to hospital for dental treatment in 2007/8. The figure is up one percent from the previous year, and include 5,500 children.

In total, the Tories claim, these emergency admissions are costing the NHS £13m per year.

Most of these admissions came through A&E departments though some patients went to GPs beforehand.

However, the Department of Health claims that the NHS dental service is improving, and states that an increase of one percent in emergency admissions is just a fraction of the total number of those receiving dental treatments from the NHS in the usual way.