June 25, 2025 - 627 views
Janet Finch-Saunders is pushing for mobile dentists to serve North Wales and her area of Aberconwy due to a lack of NHS dental access.
Mrs. Finch-Saunders, who is the Member of the Welsh Parliament for Aberconwy, has long advocated for such an approach, has called again for the introduction of mobile dental units across the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board.
A mobile dental unit programme was co-located at Ysgol y Moelwyn secondary school in Blaenau Ffestiniog. Dental assessments were carried out for 11 and 12-year-old students at the school, and where necessary, they were provided with clinically-effective and evidence-based prevention interventions.
Where a dental disease was detected, the team contacted parents/guardians with a follow-up request for the child to be treated at a suitable permanent dental setting.
Commenting on the key role mobile dental units could play during the dental crisis in North Wales, Mrs. Finch-Saunders said:
“I have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Health and Social Care calling for mobile dental units to be deployed in North Wales. This will help ensure continued access to services, particularly in the communities most affected by recent practice closures.
“We know how effective such units can be in a dental dessert from the programme ran at Ysgol y Moelwyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog. Even the First Minister when Cabinet Secretary for Health commented that the results were positive. In fact, it was found that the majority of students assisted by the unit had not seen a dentist since before the pandemic, and that the unit was valued by parents and the wider community.
“While working to procure more dental contracts, it cannot be overlooked that the dental dessert is getting bigger. As many as six practices have handed back their NHS contracts in North Wales already this year.
“At a time when there is no quick way of recruiting more NHS dentists, why not deploy a mobile dental unit? It helped in Blaenau Ffestiniog and could help across North Wales.
“Neither the Welsh Government nor the Health Board can recruit enough dentists quickly enough to see practices opened in communities without provision. The best short term solution is mobile dental units that go to crisis communities”.
