SOUTH Cumbria’s dentistry problems could soon be a thing of the past after community dental service have been upskilling their staff in order to reduce waiting times for patients.

A number of dentists, dental therapists and dental nurses have now been trained by Cumbria Partnership NHS Foundation Trust to deliver sedation to those patients who need it.

This news will be welcomed by many across Furness as previously adults in Barrow in need of a dentist faced the long journeys to find a practice taking on new patients with the nearest local surgery 45 miles away in Whitehaven.

John Woodcock, Barrow and Furness MP, said: “This is a very welcome step in the right direction.

“There is huge ground to make up on the availability of NHS dental professionals, particularly given the poor condition that the teeth of many local people are in compared to other parts of the country.

“Stats from the British Dental Association show an 18 per cent rise in the occurrence of young children being admitted to hospital to have multiple teeth extracted under general anaesthetic. In last year alone, 45,000 children were admitted for the procedure.

“Ultimately, proper change will need to be driven by the government deciding to prioritise NHS dental care after many years in which the area has been neglected.”

Mr Woodcock was joined by South Lakes MP Tim Farron.

He also welcomed the news as some areas in his constituency face equally long journeys, with the nearest practice taking on new patients for those in Windermere being 43 miles away in Maryport.

Mr Farron said: “This is really welcome news and will be a big boost in helping people who need emergency dental treatment.

“However, this does not fix the underlying problem that we don’t have enough NHS dentists locally.

“With the help of organisations like the British Association of Dental Therapists and the British Dental Association, I will continue to campaign for the Government to reward dentists for doing preventative treatment, so that we can bring the dentists that we so desperately need to the Cumbria.”