The Ely Standard is publishing a Special Report to look into the lack of NHS dental care for individuals living in and around East Cambridgeshire.

A recent report from the Care Quality Commission (CQC) revealed that the area is one of 10 in England where the number of dentists is at their lowest, with 0.078 dentists per 1,000 people.

As part of our research, we reached out to our readers to find out whether the decline in NHS appointments and dentists in East Cambridgeshire is something that has affected themselves or their families.

We received several responses on the subject, some of which we have shared below.

One person, called Francis, said that between Ely and St Ives, he has not been able to find a single NHS dentist.

“I go to the surgery personally and the body language from receptionists is very interesting,” he said.

“You lose eye contact immediately and get a practiced monologue on how they just can’t take on NHS patients.”

Another, called Steve, said that he and his family have had “many appointments cancelled” at one of the Ely surgeries, anywhere between a few weeks to a few days before the scheduled date.

“We had no offer of a rescheduled appointment, it was just cancelled,” he said.

“At one point, one of us had three appointments cancelled so hadn’t seen a dentist for over 18 months and we believe we were then removed from the NHS list for not having attended an appointment for so long.”

Hannah said she had to cancel a family appointment in August and they “rescheduled it for June 2023!”.

Another, Gary, said: “We were NHS patients for more years than I can remember but have recently been informed the dentists are all going private.

“When we looked for another dentist the only place that had places was in Baldock, Hertfordshire; it’s no wonder people are pulling out their own teeth.

As a teacher, Jules said she teaches children about dental health regularly.

“It’s part of the curriculum at primary level, yet all the dentists are suddenly going private and will only treat children if their parents can pay for private care,” she said.

“It’s a national scandal and will impact children’s future health.”

Another reader, Angii, said it took her seven years to get onto the NHS dentist service.

However, she said that after all that time she had “one check-up" and got a letter to cancel the next as “there are now no NHS dentists at the site”.

Angii is now booked in for March 2023.

“We’ve also been told there are no NHS dentists for my children either so we will be paying for the next check-up and at £110 for a filling, I daren’t take them back!," she said.

Since starting our research into the lack of NHS dentists in East Cambridgeshire, a dental nurse from Cambridgeshire who has worked in the industry for 22 years has provided us with an insight into what is really going on.

They said: “Dentists would be happy to see more NHS patients if they just had the funding to do so.

“Little or no funding means dentists cannot see a never-ending number of patients unless costs are covered by patients paying privately.”

They added: “If people want to see change, then they need to take it straight to their local MP or local primary care trust instead of blaming those already stretched to their limits.

“We, as dedicated NHS dental workers want it to change too.

“We need to really highlight the struggle is not just for the patients who are unable to find NHS dental care but also the dedicated, hardworking dental staff who are also trying their best every single day.”

These are just some of the many responses we have received regarding NHS dental care in East Cambridgeshire so far. We will be sharing more stories as we receive them.

Do you have a story to tell us regarding your visits to an NHS dentist or have you struggled to be seen due to availability issues? Email katie.woodcock@archant.co.uk