Pinchbeck pensioner lives with tooth ache as he - like 25% of Lincolnshire’s population - can’t access an NHS dentist

Latest figures show that just 25% of the county’s population has access to a NHS dentist — with many people living with pain as they can’t afford private treatment.

Lincolnshire Integrated Care Board, which has been responsible for commissioning dental care for two years, has revealed that just 132,476 adults and 59,777 children are able to access NHS dental treatment — which is lower than the national average.

South Holland, Boston, the east coast and North Kesteven are the areas that have most ‘challenging’ levels of access to a dentist, according to an ICB report to Lincolnshire County Council.

One person who is living with the painful reality of this ‘challenging’ access is 81-year-old George Scott, who cannot afford to go private to have two teeth pulled out — despite living a short distance from the shut dental surgery at the Johnson Hospital in Pinchbeck.

Mr Scott was quoted £800 to have his back teeth removed along with other work but has not been able to get registered with an NHS dentist in the last two or three years.

He said: “I just put up with the pain - when you brush your teeth you can feel the nerves.

“I am 82 years-old this year so it might be a waste of money.

“I can’t justify the costs with our pensions.

“I can understand that if the NHS is not paying enough to cover their costs but we have been paying into it for years. We have paid into the NHS for the services.

“It is such a waste having a dental surgery at the Johnson and it is sat there doing nothing. There should be a dentist there and there should be a chiropodist.

“We just don’t have the facilities here.”

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The British Dentistry Association has blamed the current NHS contract - which results in practices getting paid in ‘units of dental activity’ rather than per treatment - for the current crisis.

This contract has been in place since 2006 and has not been updated by successive governments.

Two Lincolnshire dentists have asked for their contract to be reduced by 15,888 units due to problems with recruitment and retention of staff, according to the report which went before the health scrutiny committee recently.

Lincolnshire has a population of 768,402 but just 192,184 (25.01%) have access to an NHS dentist. The national average is 26.64%.

Last year, a report to South Holland District Council stated that Lincolnshire has just 72 dentists to serve patients.

Have you struggled to access an NHS dentist? Email victoria.fear@iliffemedia.co.uk