Dentist set to fill a gap in the market

Published on Thursday 17 December 2009 08:37

A NEW NHS dental practice is set to open in one of the city's most deprived areas.

Westside Dental Care will cater for up to 5,000 patients in and around Wester Hailes.

The local community and politicians have praised the move, which will see a much needed facility brought to the area.

It has been set up by Irish dentist Victoria Nason, who wanted to open her own practice and plumped for the area after asking local people if they thought they needed a dental surgery.

Based in the Westside Plaza shopping centre, it will also provide a much needed boost for other local businesses complaining that too many shops there have closed over the years.

Ms Nason said the project to get the practice up and running has taken around a year, with the opening party taking place tomorrow night.

"It is one of the first practices to be opened in a shopping centre in Scotland," she said. "There is easy parking and public transport galore so it just seemed right.

"Wester Hailes is a changing suburb and projects like this can only help."

The surgery will have four practice rooms and was set up with the help of her colleague Andrew Turner. There is also room for expansion at the practice, which was funded with the help of NHS Lothian.

Health chiefs are keen to support the opening of more practices, particularly in areas with higher levels of poverty, given that statistics show a child from a poorer family is more likely to develop oral health problems.

Pentlands MSP David McLetchie, who wrote a supporting letter to help secure the dentist permission to open, paid tribute to the project.

He said: "It is terrific that young dentists like Victoria have confidence in the future of NHS dentistry and are opening up this new practice in Westside Plaza.

"This is a great opportunity for people in the area who have had difficulty finding a NHS dentist to register with Victoria and her team and ensure that their teeth are properly looked after."

It is the second NHS dentist to be set up in the city in recent months.

In October the Haymarket Dental Practice, founded by similarly young, ambitious dentists, opened its doors to cater for the 8,000 people in that area who needed an NHS dentist.

Both are modern facilities with larger rooms, and meet the stringent NHS guidelines on hygiene, sterilisation and disabled access.