The number of people registered with a dentist is lower in Moray than in other areas covered by NHS Grampian, with just one dentist to 3,500 patients.

Health bosses believe that they will be able to meet the demand with the creation of 17 new NHS dental chairs across the area within the next year.

And they told members of the Moray Health and Social Care Partnership that they are confident that all of the job vacancies for dentists will be filled.

Andrew Fowlie, general manager of the partnership, said the waiting list figures may be overstated, as some entries are recorded twice if they are registered for more than one practice.

But he also conceded that figures could be underestimated, given that some people do not feel there is any point in registering for NHS treatment when there is currently little hope of receiving it.

"At present, there is one dentist to 3,500 people in Moray. In some other areas of Scotland, there is one dentist for 1,500 people and that is where we are aiming to get to.

"We do need a better data capture, but I think that the lack of dental provision in Moray is so significant that, with the plans we have, we can be confident that they will all be required.

"The overall package should bring significant benefit. It is only the beginning of our dental developments in Moray and we recognise there is still a lot to do," said Mr Fowlie.

New dentist surgeries are currently being planned for Lossiemouth, Buckie and Keith, and there is also to be dental provision at the replacement Victoria Crescent surgery in Elgin.

There are also plans to build a second centre in Elgin, but that has hit a stumbling block because NHS Grampian has not been able to identify an appropriate site.

Funding was granted by the Scottish Executive two years ago. The latest suggestion is that the clinic could be located within the Spynie Hospital site.

Mr Fowlie admitted that there was a risk the new surgeries could lie vacant until they had enough dentists to fill all the posts, but said he is confident recruitment will be a success.

"From the information available to me at the point in time, we know there are some dentists who would like to come and work in Moray," said Mr Fowlie.

"The new dentist training schools at Aberdeen and Dundee have increased the pool of home-grown dentists looking for work in the North of Scotland, and there are also dentists from other parts of the UK who would like to work here.

"We are also looking at overseas recruitment, in particular Sweden and Germany where there is an excess of dentists, to recruit the number of dentists we need."

l.carter@northern-scot.co.uk

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