2,200 NHS dental patients in Lostwithiel are set to be impacted after the departure of their dentist.

Lostwithiel Dental Practice, which offers both private and NHS dental services in the town have confirmed that one NHS dentist currently working for them is leaving their practice to work for the NHS in a hospital post, with 2,200 patients affected by this.

There is currently uncertainty about what this means for the affected patients; while the practice is actively recruiting for an NHS dentist to take over the role, if this is unsuccessful, patients may end up on a waiting list.

Colin Martin, Cornwall Councillor for Lostwithiel, believes that the ongoing crisis with NHS dentistry, leaving a swathe of people without an NHS dentist, is down to the NHS dental contract problems, which he says stretch back to the last Labour government.

He said: “I have spoken with the management at Lostwithiel Dental Practice and they have confirmed that with one NHS dentist leaving to work for the NHS in a hospital post, all 2,200 patients registered to this individual will be affected.

“The team is actively recruiting for a replacement (and in fact had someone lined up to take the job who dropped out at the last minute). If they are successful, Danielle's patients will be transferred to the new NHS dentist without needing to join a waiting list.

“Unfortunately, it is very difficult to find dentists willing to work under the NHS contract due to problems which stretch all the way back to the last Labour government and which have not been fixed by any of their successors.”

Cllr Martin added that he had repeatedly raised his concerns about NHS dentistry to NHS England during his six years as Cornwall Councillor for Lostwithiel as the dental crisis has got worse. He added: “I have repeatedly raised these concerns with NHS England during my six years as a Cornwall Councillor as communities have lost their NHS dentists one by one.

“I've lived in Lostwithiel for five years but my family had to travel to Wadebridge for dental care until our NHS Dentist went private a couple of years ago.

“Just this week BUPA announced that it was giving up 85 NHS Dental contracts across the country.”

Cllr Martin said that he was hoping to organise a public meeting to give patients the chance to hear from the practice and have their questions answered with a date for this session to be confirmed in the very near future.

He also said that the only reason there is NHS dentistry in Lostwithiel is that it was effectively subsidised by private patients, continuing: “The only reason we have any NHS dentists at all in Lostwithiel is that the private practice helps to cover the cost of overheads.

“I know that this is a worrying and frustrating experience, but please remember that personal abuse is never acceptable. This is not about greedy dentists; it is about an NHS contract which is not fit for purpose.”