THE impact of the coronavirus pandemic on dental care in Cumbria has been laid bare by new figures revealing a sharp decline in treatments delivered to patients.

The British Dental Association (BDA) said the pandemic has exacerbated longstanding problems in NHS dentistry, with millions of appointments lost due to ongoing infection control measures.

NHS Digital data reveals that 104,000 dental treatments were given to NHS patients in Cumbria between June 2020 and March this year – a 68 percent drop from 323,000 in the same period the previous year.

Among these treatments, 32,700 were delivered to children, down 65 percent from 94,400 in 2019-20.

Dental practices were told to halt all routine dental care from March 25 until June 8 last year, when they reopened with strict infection control rules due to Covid-19.

In January, the Government told NHS dentists they should deliver 45 percent of their pre-pandemic activity, rising to 60 percent in April.

But the BDA said capacity across dental services remains low, with only around half the NHS practices in England meeting targets.

A spokesperson for NHS England North East and Yorkshire - which oversees NHS dentistry in Cumbria - told the News & Star that although care has been disrupted, urgent procedures have been at normal levels since December.

They said: "It’s inevitable that the upheaval caused by Covid has disrupted some people’s dental care but dentists have been prioritising treatment for patients in urgent need, in part through the rapid establishment of hundreds of urgent dental centres - with millions still getting care through the pandemic.

"The NHS has put to good use additional resources to tackle Covid and recover all services - with NHS dental teams working hard to see patients as quickly and safely as possible and provision of urgent care has been at pre-pandemic levels since December."

But the BDA said that the number of NHS dentists has dropped in the past year and that the Government's target-based approach is "driving low morale" among staff.

Shawn Charlwood, chairman of the BDA's general dental practice committee, said: "Millions are still missing out on dental care, and patients will be paying the price for years to come.

"Dentists in England have had capacity slashed by pandemic restrictions and need help to get patients back through their doors.

"Even before Covid there simply wasn't enough NHS dentistry to go round."

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “The Government continues to support the dental sector and we are working closely with the health service to increase access to NHS dental care as fast as possible.”