Residents in Chilton are being forced to travel long distances for NHS dental treatment, a local councillor has warned.
Durham County Councillor Stephen Bowron criticised the North East and North Cumbria Integrated Care Board (ICB) for refusing to fund a new dental practice in his ward.
“They expect residents to travel to Durham City or the coast in an emergency. For many, this is not possible,” Bowron said.
He added that a fully equipped dental surgery in Chilton is currently idle, and a dentist is willing to operate there, but funding is preventing it from opening.
The shortage of local NHS dental services reflects a wider national issue, the ICB acknowledged. Many residents face long waiting lists and years without appointments due to a backlog of cases and a limited number of practices.
The ICB cited challenges including recruiting and training dentists, and the high costs of providing NHS services. They said fundamental reforms to the dental contract would be necessary to address the problem.
Government-backed measures are expected in April, focusing on urgent care and complex dental needs.
In the meantime, the ICB has invested £9.5 million in a new care model to manage urgent dental issues safely. This includes a network of 23 Urgent Dental Access Centres (UDACs), which will provide over 100,000 urgent appointments annually.
New UDACs opened last year in Durham City, Barnard Castle, and Peterlee, offering in-hours urgent care to patients.