Many Scots are experiencing significant delays for tooth extractions, with some patients waiting over a year to receive necessary treatment. Freedom of information requests by Scottish Labour have revealed that average wait times for tooth extractions have surged since 2019, with some health boards reporting waits of over a year. One patient had to wait an alarming two years for the procedure.
In the Lothian area, the average wait for tooth extractions stood at 62 weeks in 2023/24, while patients in the Borders and Grampian waited 55 weeks and 54 weeks, respectively. Other areas also saw long delays, with patients in Dumfries and Galloway waiting an average of 43 weeks, Greater Glasgow and Clyde seeing a wait of 38 weeks, and Tayside having a 28-week average wait time. These numbers represent a dramatic increase in wait times since 2019, when Lothian’s wait was just 12 weeks, the Borders had a 21-week wait, and Grampian had a 14-week wait.
For some individual patients, the waits were even longer. In Lothian, one patient waited two years for their tooth extraction, while others waited up to 94 weeks in the Highlands, 87 weeks in Fife, and 59 weeks in Dumfries and Galloway.
Children have also been affected by these long delays. In Greater Glasgow and Clyde, children waited an average of ten months, while in Lothian, the wait was over six months, at 33 weeks. Some children faced even longer waits, with the longest recorded waits including 83 weeks in Highland, 70 weeks in Lothian, 66 weeks in Dumfries and Galloway, 57 weeks in Grampian, and 53 weeks in Shetland.
Paul Sweeney, the Scottish Labour spokesperson for Dentistry, criticized the situation, emphasizing that “rotten teeth can cause excruciating pain” and that these extended wait times are forcing some patients to seek private care, while others must endure the agony of living with untreated dental issues. Sweeney also called for more NHS dentists to be recruited to address the growing demand for dental care in Scotland.
In response, a Scottish Government spokesperson acknowledged that any long wait for surgery is “highly regrettable” but pointed out that the majority of NHS dental care is provided in a primary care setting. The spokesperson further stated that efforts are underway to address the issue, including targeting resources to treat those waiting the longest and working to increase the dental workforce through improved international recruitment efforts.
The Public Health Minister is set to meet with UK counterparts from Wales and Northern Ireland to discuss measures to improve the dental workforce capacity and reduce waiting times for dental treatments.
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