Around 10,000 Islanders will no longer face a future without a dentist as health bosses confirm a new NHS dentist will be taking over from mydentist in the West Wight.
It was back in August that Island Echo exclusively revealed plans to close the Avenue Road practice down, to the detriment of residents across the Island.
But now the NHS has confirmed that a new provider has been secured to take on the contract in Freshwater, enabling the popular practice to remain open.
James Roach, director of primary care for NHS Hampshire and Isle of Wight, revealed the news yesterday evening (Thursday).
The {my}dentist practice in Newport closed its doors earlier this year, with the Ryde branch going private-only at the end of 2023.
Further details are expected to be revealed in due course with wider news on dentist locally set to be revealed within the next few weeks.
There is said to be an appetite for new dentists to open on the Island, with golden hellos being considered – namely a upfront payment to entice qualified practitioners to move to the Isle of Wight.
For now,because when the nhs dentist cannot fulfill their contract to the government by tying to meet unattainable targets and basically being worked to death,they will leave and go to private dentistry,then the problem will again rise of trying to find a dentist who will be stupid enough to take on an nhs contract,so dont hold your breath,when their contract ends in 18 months this issue will arise again!
It’s good news that non-private patients (NHS) have an option in West Wight… but it will quickly be over-subscribed.
Also, the standard of dental practitioners in this segment of dental care is woefully low, drawing on young, dubiously qualified people from largely Eastern European countries. I’d not put the fate of my oral health at risk.
Also, even NHS dental care is still expensive for most people… it’s just not AS expensive as private care.
If the government really DID want to face the Island crisis of dental care, it would be encouraging more people (especially children) to visit dentists, if only to get a screening and a cleaning. In the meantime, the only realistic option is to go private… and as the only private dentist in West Wight is booked up years in advance, then, that too, isn’t an option for most. Although, I do highly recommend him and his awesome team.
With the amount of people needing a dentist this is just a very small drop in the ocean will not make a great deal of difference at all.
We had to go private at huge expense £250 for a small filling.
Just robbery in my opinion. 10 minutes work.
Market forces.
Where on earth was that? My private dentist charges £120 for a filling,you should change dentist,and quick!