For years, the Conservative Government allowed NHS dental provision in this country to reach crisis level, with patients across the country struggling to get dental treatment on the NHS. And now the new Labour Government are failing to get their act together to fix this unacceptable situation, with many people turning to DIY dentistry when they cannot access an affordable or NHS dentist.
Coastal communities like Torbay are particularly badly affected, with many residents being forced to go private because there is no NHS dental provision available to them.
This crisis has been caused by several factors including a contract that pushes dentists away from providing NHS services, a shortage of trained dentists in the UK and experienced overseas dentists finding it too difficult to come to the UK to help fill this shortage.
"The current system is not just failing patients, it's failing dentists and their staff who desperately want to treat more people on the NHS," says Steve.
Please sign Steve’s petition calling for urgent action from the Government.

By signing this petition you support Steve Darling's calls on the Government to increase the number of NHS dental appointments available in coastal communities. In particular, we call on the Government to create a Dental Rescue Package that brings dentists back to the NHS from the private sector by fixing the broken NHS dental contract and using flexible commissioning to meet patient needs.