Labour’s Shadow Minister for Dentistry listens to Lowestoft and Beccles residents' stories of teeth pulled out with pliers and children without dentists
This week, Labour’s Shadow Minister for Dentistry, Preet Gill, and Labour’s Parliamentary Candidate for Lowestoft Jess Asato met local residents across Lowestoft and Beccles who have unable to get access to an NHS dentist.
Those on the call told horror stories about friends who pulled their own teeth out with pliers and struggles to get their children registered with a dentist, forcing them to go private. One residents' mother had been told to go to Harwich for treatment, but couldn't afford transport to get there.
Labour will put an end to this disgrace.
Labour will:
provide an extra 700,000 urgent dental appointments and reform the NHS dental contract
offer incentives for new dentists to work in areas with the greatest need, so that those who need an appointment will be able to get one.
introduce supervised toothbrushing in schools for 3-5 year olds, targeted at the areas with highest childhood tooth decay
shift the focus to prevention, so that in the long term, everyone who needs NHS dentistry can access it
Jess Asato, Labour’s candidate for Lowestoft, said,
"I'm delighted Preet Gill, Labour's Shadow Minister for Dentistry, listened to the experiences of local residents about the terrible access to dentistry in Beccles and Lowestoft.
“I've heard so many stories, from residents pulling out their own teeth, to those who've had to remortgage to afford private dental care. Labour has pledged to create 700,000 urgent dentist appointments and reform the NHS dental contract.
“We will also offer incentives to dentists to practice in 'dental deserts' like ours and I will push for our constituency to be top of that list."
Labour’s Shadow Minister for Dentistry, Preet Gill said:
“Local residents in Lowestoft, like the ones I spoke to, are finding it impossible to get an NHS dentist when they need one, with appalling consequences. Horror stories of DIY dentistry are too frequent.
“A Labour government will not stand for millions of people being denied basic healthcare.
“To rescue dentistry from the immediate crisis, we will provide 700,000 more appointments a year to those in the most urgent need, recruit more dentists to areas with the most severe shortages, and protect children’s teeth. All funded by abolishing the non-dom tax status.”
Notes
In addition to Labour’s plan to reform access to dentistry, Labour has a clear Child Health Action Plan
Labour’s fully-funded and fully costed Child Health Action Plan will:
Cut waiting times for planned paediatric services by getting the NHS working round the clock delivering 40,000 more appointments every week at evenings and weekends.
Tackle the crisis in children and young people’s mental health, with mental health professionals in every school to provide preventative support.
Boost mental health services for young people, with a Young Futures hub in every community and 8,500 new specially trained staff across CAMHS and NHS talking therapies.
Eliminate dental deserts and improve children’s oral health by delivering 100,000 extra urgent dental appointments per year for children and supervised toothbrushing for 3-5 year olds in the areas that need it most.
Crack down on vaping and smoking, legislating for a progressive ban on smoking, so young people today are even less likely to smoke than they are to vote Tory.
Ban junk food advertising to children, implementing the 9pm watershed for junk food advertising on television and ban paid-for advertising of unhealthy foods on online media aimed at children, as part of a comprehensive obesity strategy.
Introduce breakfast clubs for all primary school children, so every child can start the day with a healthy breakfast and parents are able to get to work.
Protect children from the growth of infectious diseases, training more health visitors so parents and babies get the best possible support and digitising the red book.
Ban the sale of dangerous highly caffeinated energy drinks to under 16s, so children aren’t going to school wired on the equivalent of three espressos.
Stop the targeting of school children by fast food outlets, by empowering councils to block the development of fast-food shops outside schools.