Mobile dentist ends patient's painful six-year wait

A woman has described a visit to a charity's mobile clinic as a "godsend" following her six-year wait to see a dentist in an area described as "the Sahara of dental deserts".

Dentaid's surgery on wheels visited Shrublands Youth and Adult Centre in Gorleston, near Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, on Tuesday.

Patient Kathryn Finlay said she had struggled with health issues that had caused her to neglect her teeth, and undergoing the dental work had been "another step towards being normal".

A Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) spokesperson said: "We have taken action over the past 20 months to... rebuild NHS dentistry."

Finlay said she had been fitted with a denture before the Covid lockdown but it had started rubbing against her teeth, causing her to lose one and damage another, resulting in pain and tenderness.

"It is a sad thing that it's come to this, but so many dentists choose to go private now," she said.

"It's hard to get an NHS dentist and when you do find one that's taking on [patients], it is mainly children, or you've got to have that dental plan with them, and obviously you can't afford it.

"It's horrible to know you want to do the work with your teeth, but there's just not a possible way until now."

Dentist Lenny Lalsie, who volunteers for the charity, said the current long waits for NHS treatment were "very, very frustrating... if anybody's ever had tooth pain, it's the worst thing anybody could ever go through".

He carried out a root extraction and two fillings on Finlay during the surgery's stop at the Nourishing Norfolk food hub at the Shrublands Centre.

Lalsie said it had been "rewarding" to help people and had expected to spend the day undertaking vital fillings and extractions to relieve patients of pain rather than carrying out check-ups.

"It doesn't matter who we see today as long as we get them out of pain," said Lalsie.

Julie Woods, manager of the Shrublands charitable trust, said one woman had four teeth taken out, while, during a previous Dentaid clinic, another finally found she kept losing teeth due to receding gums.

"I got a lot of hugs last time they came, because people are just so relieved," said Woods.

The Shrublands Centre is one of Nourishing Norfolk's 25 food hubs offering discounted produce to members, with the network run by the Norfolk Community Foundation.

"We did some research in December and found there's loads of people that don't have access to an NHS dentist," said Woods.

"We've done some work with the Norfolk Community Foundation to get them here so people can actually see a dentist.

"We're not really solving the dentist problem, but we are trying to alleviate the initial crisis - they're doing people that need extractions or fillings."

Woods said the clinics had been offered to the centre's group for homeless people or members who had been taken off NHS lists after they had missed one appointment.

In 2024, former health secretary Wes Streeting described Norfolk and Waveney as the Sahara of dental deserts and agreed to meet MPs about the crisis.

A DHSC spokesperson said in a statement: "Our reforms to the dental contract will prioritise patients with the greatest needs, improving access across the country for those with the highest needs, and delivering a better deal for dentists."

They added DHSC was providing thousands more dentists, creating more dental schools and reinvesting £400m back into NHS dentistry.

Do you have a story suggestion for Norfolk? Contact us below.

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.