38% of Salfordians do not have a dentist, says The Big Check Up report

More than a third of Salford residents have no access to a dentist according to a report by Healthwatch Salford.

The Big Check Up report aimed to create a picture of the condition of dentist services in Salford.

The report revealed that many Salfordians do not know where to go to find details of dental practices that are taking on NHS patients.

The report also revealed these statistics about how citizens of Salford access dentist services:

• 38% of Salfordians do not have access to a dentist at all
• 25% of those with no access to a dentist haven’t seen a dentist in over 5 years.
• 86% of those who haven’t seen a dentist blame COVID 19 restrictions for their lack of access to dental services.
• 50% of those who haven’t seen a dentist say that they are unable to find one.
• Of those who have a dentist, only 50% had an NHS dentist.
• 4 out of 28 dental practices in Salford didn’t have a website.
• Only 18 out of 28 dentists’ websites were easy to navigate
• Only 9 out of 28 dentist websites in Salford provide clear information for NHS patients.
• Only 2 out of 28 practices stated they were taking on NHS patients
• Over a third of Salford would like more help in understanding how to better care for their teeth.

In our own poll, Salford Now found this about access to NHS dentists in Salford:

38% of people in Salford have said they did not have access a dentist (Study by The Big Check Up).
Do you have access to an NHS dentist in Salford?

— Salford Now (@SalfordNow) February 22, 2022

In response to these statistics, Healthwatch England has recommended the following changes to dentistry:

Anyone who may benefit from access to an NHS dentist can contact Greater Manchester Health and social care on 01617426023 or at https://www.gmhsc.org.uk/

The report is available in full here.