Dentaid mobile dentistry unit is returning to Bury St Edmunds and Leiston, it has been confirmed

An 'emergency' charity-run dental unit is to return to two Suffolk towns.

Dentaid, which usually provides free dental care for the homeless and vulnerable as well as Third World countries will be stationed at the The Thomas Clarkson Centre, formerly known as the Hyndman Centre, in Hospital Road, Bury St Edmunds, on February 3.

It will also visit Leiston on February 2.

The Bury St Edmunds visit has been paid for by seven town councillors after ‘record numbers’ visited the unit, many in pain, during a two-day visit to the town last November.

Dentaid say the majority of requests for its service come from Suffolk and Norfolk.

The news also comes as new NHS data reveals West Suffolk lost 34 NHS dentists between 2020 and 2021, down from 164 to 130. The 21 per cent drop is the third largest in the country.

Bury St Edmunds town councillor, Darren Turner, said on behalf of the Toothless in Suffolk campaign, of which he is also a member: “As we have seen recently, people are having to take extreme measures to deal with dental issues including removing their own teeth.

“Record numbers of people were treated by Dentaid on the days they were in Bury last year, including cancer patients who were unable to access dental treatment as part of their treatment.

For a dental charity to have to provide this kind of treatment in 2021 in Bury St Edmunds shows the level of Government failure to deal with the issue.

NHS England data shows that more than 2,400 NHS dentists were lost nationwide in the past year – with the British Dental Association warning there would be ‘significant numbers’ to follow.

The organisation’s dental practice committee chairman, Shawn Charlwood said NHS dentistry is now “hanging by a thread” with patients facing up to two-year waits for routine check-ups.

Bury town councillors Donna Higgins, Katie Parker, Diane Hind, Kevin Hind, Darren Turner, Cyrille Bouché and Cliff Waterman, have funded the Dentaid visit through their locality budgets.

It has cost around £3,200 and will include a third visit to the town later in the year at a date to be confirmed.

Dentaid has stressed that the three dentists who will be working on February 3 will be performing tooth extractions and temporary fillings only, for people in pain.

A main focus of the visit will also be around oral health care education.

Cllr Higgins said: “I was a volunteer during Dentaid’s first visit and a group of us spoke about the visit afterwards. By funding another two visits in total, like any of our initiatives, we are responding to what we see as a real need in our community.”

Cllr Parker said: “I get constant messages from residents asking if I know where to get an NHS dentist, and the answer is: no. there isn’t one.

“I see people in pain, and who are suffering that can’t get near an NHS dentist, people that have been dropped from their NHS dentist for no good reason, dentists that have just closed their doors completely to NHS patients.

These residents can’t afford to go private, and they shouldn’t have to when we pay taxes for this.

The Toothless in Suffolk campaign, launched last year, has been calling for access to NHS dental provision ‘for all’. The group organised a March in Bury last year and also launched a petition.

It organised the first Dentaid visit for free, with more than 74 being treated over two days.

Dentaid say that the majority of calls for its service are from Suffolk and Norfolk.

The British Dental Association(BDA) says the problem lies in the nature of NHS contracts and hasbeen campaigning for reform.

Jo Churchill, MP for Bury St Edmunds, said: “I have been in constant dialogue with the Department of Health and Social Care, ministers and NHS England with regards to the lack of NHS dentistry in Bury St Edmunds and indeed across Suffolk.

I urged the minister to continue the dialogue with the BDA which I initiated during my time at the Department of Health, to ensure we have a dental contract in place that works for both dentistry and patients.

"I am also in regular communications with Ed Garratt (chief officer of Suffolk and North East Essex Integrated Care System) and others in order to bring more dental provision into the system as quickly as possible.”