National health survey shows decline in Scotland denistry

National health survey indicates state of Scotland NHS dentistry continuing to deteriorate

Emerging information from Scotland show the UK dental crisis is seriously affecting many across demographics. (Image: metamorworks/Shutterstock)

Dental Tribune International

Wed. 20 November 2024

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EDINBURGH, Scotland: The lamentable state of public health dentistry across the UK is now glaringly obvious and concern continues to be raised in various sections of the media. One country within the region that has been hard hit by the National Health Service (NHS) crisis is Scotland, especially those parts that are geographically remote or socio-economically disadvantaged. New official data from Scotland, as well as reports on the ground, indicates that the situation is becoming increasingly serious.

An article from DTI last month reported on the emergence of “dental deserts” across Scotland, areas where public access to NHS dentistry has diminished to such an extent as to have virtually disappeared. Now, the report on the 2023 Scottish Health Survey, released just last week, has revealed that public health dentistry in Scotland has further problems.

Within the context of the relatively robust general public healthcare described by the report, dental healthcare was salient in its poor performance. Most notably, 34% of Scottish adults reported having difficulty accessing dental services, the highest figure since 2009. The most common challenges faced were those that have come to increasingly characterise the NHS crisis more generally: difficulty securing appointments, facing prohibitively expensive treatment and difficulty obtaining dental treatment under the NHS.

The Scottish dental crisis is, of course, not only an issue for adults but also affects children and young adults. One recent report from the NHS region of Ayrshire and Arran, on Scotland’s west coast, said that, according to recent government information, the average waiting time for young NHS patients in the region to have teeth extracted has increased from five weeks in 2019/2020 to 20 weeks in 2023/2024, a disturbing trend with obvious health risks.