A West Yorkshire town's final NHS dental office informed its patients that starting in September, it would only offer private care.
Due to a "chronic lack of investment," Manor sq\. Dental Practice in Otley announced that it was leaving the NHS.
The practice was losing money on NHS contracts, according to dentist and owner Dr. Paul Ellul.
The town's Labour MP has urged the government to properly support and fund NHS dentistry.
Dental care provided by the NHS is being improved, according to the Department of Health.
Although it was a "tough decision," the practice, which serves about 15,000 patients, claimed that it was unable to "make it work" on the NHS.
The clinic released the following statement: "Like many of our patients, we are also upset.
An official statement read: "It is a great shame that we were unable to make it work on the NHS, but we tried and were proud to have survived as long as we did.
According to Dr. Ellul, the problem has been present for a while and has gotten worse as a result of the current economic situation.
"It has reached a point where it is no longer feasible, especially in light of the current increase in inflation and interest rates.
It must function properly; if the math is off, we can't proceed, he said.
The fundamental problem, he continued, is that dental labs charge more than we do for a dental repair. "People don't realize that," he said.
The practice's decision to discontinue providing NHS treatment without "real consultation or notice," according to Leeds North West Labour MP Alex Sobel, disappointed him.
They have completely closed the NHS list, forcing everyone to register as a private patient, he claimed.
He added, "Fundamentally, the NHS dentistry funding system is broken, and I have some sympathy for dental practices that can't make it work with the way that the government funds it. ".
Otley's councillor for the Liberal Democrats, Sandy Lay, stated that the modifications would make it difficult for many patients to afford care.
Within 35 miles of Leeds, he said, "I'm told there isn't an NHS dentist taking on patients.".
With their children receiving free dental care, Richard Ellis and his family currently pay the practice about £45 for two annual check-ups.
The price, according to him, would be around £640 under a new private dental plan.
Mr. Ellis stated, "I really don't think it's fair for the average working person in Otley to be paying that.".
According to a spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care, "We are working to increase access to NHS dental care and have already increased the funding practices receive for high-need patients to encourage dentists to provide more NHS treatments.".
"We have changed the regulations to allow dental therapists and hygienists to perform more procedures, as well as to make it simpler to hire dentists from abroad, and we will be outlining additional measures to improve access shortly," said the spokesperson.
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