Labour's Parliamentary Candidate for Barrow and Furness Michelle Scrogham has addressed the recent debate over the UK dental crisis.

Shadow health secretary Wes Streeting raised the issue of NHS dental care access during a House of Commons debate on January 9.

The annual report on NHS Dental Statistics for England in 2022-23 revealed that the number of people to receive treatment has fallen by about 20 per cent since pre-pandemic years. The data shows that over 34 million people were treated in 2022-23 compared to 39 million in 2018-19.

This suggests that less than 60 percent of England’s population (58 million) has received dental treatment in the last year.

The current mayor of Ulverston was selected as the Labour Parliamentary Candidate for Barrow and Furness after beating Chris Altree and Erica Lewis in April.

She said: “People are finding it impossible to get an NHS dentist when they need one. The consequences for patients are appalling.

“Under the Conservatives, NHS dentistry is dying a slow death. Dentists are leaving the NHS in droves, and huge parts of the country are dental deserts, where no practice is taking on NHS patients.

“Having overseen the managed decline of NHS dentistry for the past 14 years, the government is now looking at only providing NHS dentistry to children and the most vulnerable, with those who can afford it going private and those who can’t left with a poor service for poor people. Labour will take immediate action to provide care for those in most urgent need, and long-term reform to restore NHS dentistry for all who need it.”

The mayor of Ulverston is backing Labour’s plan to provide 700,000 more urgent appointments, for patients in need of things like fillings and root canals.

The party is also planning contribute incentives for new dentists to work in areas with the greatest need, to tackle the emergence of ‘dental deserts’.

She is supporting a plan that will include supervised toothbrushing in schools for 3–5-year-olds targeted at the areas with highest childhood tooth decay.

Last week, 294 Tory MPs, including Barrow's Simon Fell, voted against Labour’s plan.

Mrs Scrogham said the plan would cost £111 million a year and is funded by abolishing the non-dom tax status, which allows people who live and work in Britain to pay their taxes overseas.

“Patients need healthcare more than the ultra-wealthy need a tax break,” she said.

Mr Fell previously said: “Locally dentistry is not at all where I want it to be, which is why I’ve held roundtables with local dentists to understand the issue, met with dozens of constituents, brought the Dental Minister to Furness to meet our local healthcare board, and met with the British Dental Association. I’ve also spoken multiple times on this subject in the Commons and lobbied Ministers extensively.

“Thanks to that work, there are now 40% more dentists in training than before – the largest ever expansion of the profession – and the dental contract is being reformed.