More than 500 people were forced to attend A&E last year with tooth decay because of the crisis in finding an appointment with an NHS dentist.

NHS figures show that as many as 545 attended A&E in Worcestershire last year due to dental decay.

The figures show that 465 patients were seen in A&E either Worcestershire Royal Hospital in Worcester or at the Alexandra Hospital in Redditch with a dental abscess, caused by tooth decay, and 80 with dental caries.

No dental surgery in Worcester is currently accepting new patients, according to the NHS – with only a handful accepting NHS referrals from other dentists.

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The same NHS search shows that adults would have to travel from the city to Kidderminster, Redditch or Birmingham to find a surgery accepting NHS patients and two surgeries in Droitwich open to accepting children under 17.

Across the country last year, 67,000 patients attended emergency departments with tooth decay with millions told that NHS dental surgeries had no available appointments or were not taking on new patients.

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The impossibility of finding a dentist has forced many into A&E departments when their conditions have worsened.

Tom Collins, Labour’s parliamentary candidate for Worcester, said the lack of appointments was giving patients nowhere else to go but A&E.

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“People are being denied an appointment with an NHS dentist when they need it,” he said. “It’s impossible to register with an NHS dentist in Worcester and even registered patients are starting to lose their places.”

“Right here in Worcester, patients are being forced into A&E with tooth decay, as they have nowhere else to turn.

“Labour will rescue NHS dentistry from this crisis, so people can get an appointment when they need one.

“We will provide 700,000 more appointments a year to those in the most urgent need and recruit more dentists to areas with the worst shortages.”

Earlier this month, the NHS revealed its ‘recovery plan’ to address the dentist shortage – which includes committing to increasing the number of dentists training by 40 per cent.

West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin said: "I have had a number of constituents complain to me about the changes of dental provision at dentists' practices in Pershore and despite writing to both the local team and the national management, I haven't been able to get a clear answer.

"I've now written to the chief executive but it is now important that we understand how to get the right blend of NHS and private provision for the town.

"The long-term NHS workforce plan commits to training many more dentists and there is a £15,000 one-off payment for dentists who commit to working in a particular area." 

A spokesperson from NHS Herefordshire and Worcestershire said: “Dental health and provision of dental services across Herefordshire and Worcestershire is a multi-faceted issue.

“The NHS Herefordshire & Worcestershire ‘dental access recovery plan’ aims to increase access to primary dental services across the two counties and we are currently scoping the requirements for Worcestershire.

“Alongside this, work is underway with all health and care partners to ensure not only access to dental services, but also education around oral health for both adults and children to enable people to look after their dental health and ultimately prevent tooth decay or any preventable urgent care requirements.”