TWENTY dentists have been lost in the Hywel Dda health board area since 2018, figures have revealed, as unions warn that NHS dentistry is “hanging by a thread” with some patients facing two-year waits for routine check ups.

Data from Wales - put together by the BBC Shared Data Unit - shows more than six per cent of NHS dental posts were lost, with 83 fewer dentists working across health boards than the year before.

Across Ceredigion, Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire, data shows that 16 NHS dentists were lost in the past year - a drop of nine per cent.

There are now 157 NHS dentists across the three counties, compared to 177 in 2018.

Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board actually increased its number of NHS dentists by three since last year - the only Welsh health board to do so - while Powys Teaching Health Board lost three between 2019 and 2021.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said unhappiness with the NHS dental contract was a key factor and the BDA’s Shawn Charlwood warned “significant numbers of dentists” were planning on leaving the NHS.

“NHS dentistry is hanging by a thread, because without NHS dentists, there will be no NHS dentistry,” Mr Charlwood said.

“It’s a really serious situation and every dentist that is lost or every vacancy for NHS dentistry that remains unfilled affects thousands of patients in terms of care and their ability to access care.

“Every practice struggling to fill vacancies translates into thousands of patients unable to access care.

“Years of failed contracts and underfunding have meant a growing number of dentists no longer see the NHS as a place to build a career.

“The pandemic has upped the ante, and we are now facing down an exodus.”

The BDA has, however, predicted the number of NHS dentists in Wales “will increase in the coming years” as the country moves away from using the units of dental activity (UDA) system to measure a practice’s activity.

“They [Wales] have moved away from the UDA system in quite an imaginative and courageous way,” Mr Charlwood said.

A Welsh Government spokesperson said: “We are committed to meeting the needs of NHS dentistry patients in Wales through preventative care and increased access, supported by contract reform.

“This will see a gradual move away from using UDA targets.

“While the pandemic has paused some of this work, we will continue to support practices during the recovery period as focus is placed on increasing access to those most at risk.

“We are providing health boards with £3m in 2021-22 to boost access to NHS dental services, and £2m recurrently from 2022-23 to support increased provision.”