NHS “dental deserts” persist in rural and deprived communities – LGA analysis

The LGA, which represents over 350 councils in England and Wales, is calling on the Government to address shortages in NHS dentists urgently or risk more people requiring costly emergency dental treatment further down the line

As we face increased rates of inflation and the cost of living crisis bites, councils and their local directors of public health are warning some people may have to go without important dental work as they look to cut down on spending.

Analysis of data, collected by the Care Quality Commission (CQC) and published as a rate per 1,000 residents, on the LGA’s data platform, LG Inform, shows that:

• No local authority area in the country has more than 1 dentist per 1000 of the population who provides NHS treatment.
• Rural and more deprived areas are more likely to have shortages in NHS dentists than their counterparts, with the top 10 council areas for shortages mainly having higher than average levels of deprivation or higher than average proportion of residents in rural areas.
• There are wide variations in the availability of NHS dentists, with the City of Westminster having over six times the number of NHS dentists per 1000 of population compared with Ashfield, the area with the lowest number in the country.

Councillor David Fothergill, Chairman of the LGA’s Community Wellbeing Board said: “This stark new analysis shows a shortage in affordable dental treatments for communities all over the country. In particular, it is concerning that it is rural areas as well as those living with the highest levels of deprivation that are more likely to miss out on NHS dental provision.”

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The LGA - NHS “dental deserts” persist in rural and deprived communities – LGA analysis