Calls are being made for better dentistry provision in Ceredigion following reports that the county is ‘at capacity’.

Ceredigion AM, Elin Jones, this week responded to reports by the British Dental Association Wales that access to NHS Dentists in Ceredigion is at capacity, and that patients are at a loss trying to find an NHS dentist.

In April 2019, BDA Wales conducted a survey of all dental practices in Wales to determine access to NHS dentistry.

Of the seven practices in Ceredigion, none were accepting NHS children or young people with learning disabilities.

There are also no practices accepting NHS adults, and none are accepting charge exempt NHS patients. Currently, all practices in Ceredigion are unable to treat any new NHS patients.

However, the BDA also highlighted that in 2019, 86 per cent of practices in Ceredigion were accepting private patients. This is higher than the average of 77 per cent.

Ms Jones said: “Access to NHS dentists is now at breaking point in Ceredigion, and the way in which the NHS allocates funding for this service needs to be addressed urgently.

“While many of the dental practices in Ceredigion may have the resources, they are unable to take on any new NHS patients due to the way the contract with the Welsh Government caps NHS patient numbers. If a practice sees more patients than their contract allows they do not get paid for the work and their business is penalised.

“It seems that practices are wary of taking on new NHS patients, not only because of this restrictive target, but also because new patients can often be high need and dentists do not get paid additional sums for a complex restoration in a single course of treatment."

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