In a letter to Health Secretary Matt Hancock, the British Dental Association said yesterday that waiting times were a “national scandal” and likely to soar as a result of the pandemic. It called for an urgent action plan to tackle the growing backlog.
Charlotte Waite, chair of the BDA’s England Community Dental Services Committee, said: “The hundreds of extractions that took place every day in hospitals ended with lockdown, but demand hasn’t gone anywhere.
“Stretched services are now struggling to meet the backlog, while tens of thousands of vulnerable adults and young children wait in pain.
“We need a plan and full disclosure on the true scale of a problem that is already a national scandal.”
Extractions are often performed under general anaesthetic for children and vulnerable adults, including those with learning disabilities.
The letter, also signed by charity Mencap, told how some children waiting more than a year needed multiple courses of antibiotics to fight infections.
It said: “A whole year in pain with trouble eating, speaking and sleeping is unacceptable for anyone, let alone our most vulnerable patients – and this is set to get worse.”
