One in three still without an NHS dentist

THE Scottish Government has been urged to investigate why almost a third of people in Scotland are not registered with an NHS dentist.

Official statistics revealed 70.1 per cent of Scots were registered with an NHS dentist at the end of June. The lowest sign-up was found in Grampian and Highland, where less than 50 per cent of people were registered, and in Orkney and Borders, where barely half signed up.

NHS Ayrshire and Arran had the highest proportion of the population registered, with 75 per cent registered at the end of June.

Scottish public health minister Shona Robison accepted there were problems in some parts of Scotland but welcomed the overall increase in both child and adult dental registrations over the three months to June, and praised the construction of 13 new dental centres across the country.

But Liberal Democrat public health spokesman Jamie Stone said: "Almost a third of the population still aren't registered. We introduced free dental checks and they're a key tool in the battle against tooth decay.

"But if people aren't registered with an NHS dentist, they can't access free checks. The Scottish Government needs to look into why so many Scots still aren't registered."