Issues with getting a dentist appointment in Scotland are a “matter of life and death”, Scottish Lib Dem health spokesman Willie Rennie has said.
The MSP led a debate on the issue in Holyrood on Wednesday, where he hit out at the Scottish Government’s record in the field.
Figures released by the party last year showed half of those registered with NHS dentists in Scotland had not been seen in two years while more than 10% had not had an appointment in more than a decade.
Mr Rennie recounted something he was told by a dentist, saying: “An early oral cancer has a five-year survival of 80%, a late stage one only 20%.”
The MSP added: “This is not therefore just about shiny teeth, it is a matter of life and death.”
He also relayed the story of a single mother who spent more than £400 on dental X-rays in one month, resulting in her having to go without food so her child could eat.
The MSP called on the Scottish Government to introduce a fee system which “reflects the true cost of providing treatment”, raising the cap on student dentists by 70 places in August and speeding up the registration process of overseas dentists.
Responding to Mr Rennie, Health Secretary Neil Gray said dentistry was an “essential lynchpin of our primary care system”, describing Mr Rennie’s examples as “awful”.
Mr Gray, who took over the post earlier this month, said work was ongoing to address staffing issues in the field, while public health minister Maree Todd was working with other UK nations to find a way to ease the path for overseas dentists to work here.
“I’m under no illusions that the NHS dental sector has faced and continues to face significant challenges and I give my heartfelt thanks to those dentists working in the NHS for their resilience and dedication,” he said.
The British Dental Association said its own surveys had shown 83% of dentists in Scotland treated a patient since the pandemic who had conducted dentistry work on themselves.
And David McColl, the chair of the BDA’s Scottish dental practice committee, said: “MSPs and patients across Scotland have sent a clear message: The Scottish Government cannot pretend it’s ‘mission accomplished’ on NHS dentistry.
“Recent reforms may ease problems, but ministers can’t afford to take their eyes off the crisis in this service.”