Mum furious after hearing it will be two years before her little boy can get dental treatment

Louise Palmer, of Tyldesley Road, noticed that her four year old son, Yah-Wayne, was in agony.

When she booked into the Synergy Dental Practice, on Central Drive, to have one of her own teeth removed, she took along her son too, hoping they could see him a couple of weeks later.

She was shocked and angry when she heard it would not be two weeks - it could be up to two years.

Louise, who is expecting another child, said: “It cannot be right that a little child in agony like my son has to wait two years to be treated.

“Something has gone badly wrong with the dental situation in this country.

“I was told other children were having to wait just as long.

“When I was his age I would never have had to wait anywhere near as long as that.

“I cannot afford to go private otherwise I would not think twice. I’d make sure he was seen as soon as possible.”

Louise was told the delay was mainly down to the fact that Jah-Wayne would need to go under anaesthetic before having surgery to remove the abscess.

And that meant having to wait for a hospital bed for that to take place.

At the Synergy Dental Practice, spokesman Caitlyn Jones, said: “It is such a shame that children are having to wait so long to get treatment.

“The biggest waiting list for children between six and 10 at the moment is the one to get a hospital bed for general anaesthetic for dental treatment.

“Some people may think it is just down to dentists being greedy and abandoning the NHS for private practice, but that’s not the case.

“We are as frustrated about this as anyone else.

“There are a number of factors to the delays.

“One is that the Covid lockdown held things back and created a longer queue than normal.

“Another factor is that there is not enough funding for NHS dentistry.

“The Government is starting to introduce support to increase appointments but whether it will be effective remains to be seen.”

She added that Synergy had introduced a payment plan, in which parents paid £10 a month, which allowed for more regular check-ups and cleaning which prevented dental issues getting out of hand. It even allowed for free treatment for two children to parents who joined it.