The BBC has reported that “Scotland's dental leaders say the backlog for patients getting NHS treatment is ‘enormous’”.
The broadcaster also highlighted that “Official data shows people in more affluent areas were much more likely to be seen by a dentist in the last two years compared to poorer communities. Meanwhile, patients on long waiting lists are resorting to costly private treatment in order to be seen sooner.”
Whilst dental practices were only closed for a short time, the restrictions that were put in place following this means practices have struggled to clear the backlog that formed.
According to figures from Public Health Scotland, there were 858,407 fewer patients seen by NHS dentists in the last two years compared to pre-pandemic times.
The broadcaster notes that “The most recent data, from September 2021, also suggests the number of registered patients getting an appointment within a 24 month period is the lowest on record.
“Dentists say strict Covid protocols inside practices are partly to blame.”
David McColl, chairman of the Scottish Dental Practice Committee, said his colleagues had to prioritise people needing urgent, emergency treatment.
He told BBC Scotland, "We are still having to prioritise emergency, urgent care and we are still having to follow government guidelines on infection control. That means we just cannot see the same volume of people that we did pre-pandemic.
"We need to have the government be honest with the public and not pretend that everything is back to normal because healthcare is not back to normal. We are still having to maintain 2m social distancing within the practice and that cuts down on the number of people we can have flow through the practice."