Dentist booked up after E&S appeal

An NHS dental surgery which had 3,000 empty places just two weeks ago is now booked up until March, with patients flocking for check-ups.

Resident dentist Dr Skheeta Vora approached the Express & Star for help last month, saying few people in the Black Country knew that the practice in Oldbury existed. The £1.1 million Oldbury Dental Centre, at Oldbury Health Centre in Albert Street was only opening part-time, two months after its opening in October.

But today Dr Vora, who has worked in Oldbury for three years, said that the telephone has not stopped ringing and the surgery is now open full-time.

She said: "The response has been amazing. Since the article went in people have been contacting us and at the moment we are booked up until March.

"I have gone from working three days a week to five now that the people of the area know we are here."

Last year it emerged people in Sandwell had a better chance of being seen by an NHS dentist than anywhere else in the region.

Despite public perception, the borough has the best level of NHS dental access in the West Midlands. Out of 43 practices in the area, 42 offer NHS dental services.

In the past two years almost 214,000 residents, which equates to 74.7 per cent of people in Sandwell have seen an NHS dentist.

The situation is improving in other areas of the Black Country. Last month a Wednesfield dental surgery opened its doors to around 500 new NHS patients.

Blue Cross Dental Care in Griffiths Drive, Ashmore Park, already has around 7,500 patients on its books, 95 per cent of which receive state-funded treatment. But owner Harkamel Gill decided to offer more places.

The situation in the Black Country is not mirrored across Britain. Millions of adults across the country have not seen an NHS dentist for almost two years because they cannot find a practice that will accept them, according to research.