A SURVEY on local peoples' experiences of NHS dentistry in Falmouth and Truro has been launched their MP who admits she has no idea of the scale of the problem.

Launching the survey, Cherilyn Mackrory, Member of Parliament for Truro and Falmouth, said: “This isn’t a new issue, but it’s one I want to tackle.”

“Firstly, I know it’s hard to find an NHS dentist in Cornwall. I get emails regularly about it and I’ve seen it on the news recently.”

“The NHS doesn’t keep statistics of who needs dental treatment, so they have no idea of the scale of the problem.”

“I’ve decided to show them, by finding out how many people in the constituency of Truro and Falmouth need a dentist on the NHS.”

She says she wants to get as many people as she can to complete the survey, which you can find here or at cherilynmackrory.org.uk/truro-and-falmouth-dentist-survey

“If someone would like a hard copy of the survey, they can contact the Truro office on 01872 229698 or email at cherilyn.mackrory.mp@parliament.uk and they can put one in the post.

“I will let the survey run until 1st March 2022 and then use the data gathered to help inform colleagues in Government and in the NHS of the evidence-based need for more provision of NHS dentist services in our constituency.”

This week the government announced The NHS will provide patients with hundreds of thousands more dental appointments, thanks to a £50 million funding injection.

Funding will secure up to 350,000 additional dental appointments allowing people suffering from oral pain, disease, and infection to get the care they need, as services drive back to pre-pandemic levels.

However it was revealed that only £4,726,000 million of that will come to the south west, the smallest amount in the country.

Unions have warned NHS dentistry is "hanging by a thread" with some patients facing two-year waits for routine check-ups.

Data from NHS England and NHS Wales shows more than 2,500 dentists - up to 8% of the workforce - stopped treating NHS patients last year.

At least one town in England has been unable to attract a single applicant for vacant NHS dentist posts for two years.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said unhappiness with the NHS dental contract was a key factor.