Health board reveals three to four year waiting list for NHS orthodontic treatment

A health board has revealed that there is a three to four year waiting list for NHS orthodontic treatment due to surging demand.

Figures from the Aneurin Bevan University Health Board show to September there were 3,500 referrals for the treatment to correct the appearance and alignment of teeth, with a total of 4,900 referrals last year.

Lloyd Hambridge, the health board’s primary care director, said referrals have grown since the Covid pandemic in 2020 when lockdown measures restricted the work dentists could do.

“The increase is significant,” said Mr Hambridge who added in 2019 there were 2,200 referrals for orthodontic treatment.

He was briefing councillors in Monmouthshire on dental services and also said there is only one orthodontist, based in Chepstow, who patients can be referred to for NHS treatment in Monmouthshire.

‘Really worried’

Councillor Ian Chandler, who is the council’s cabinet member for social care and who also speaks for it on health issues, said: “I’m really worried about a three to four year waiting time for orthodontics, a child’s mouth can change so much in that time and time is crucial.”

But Mr Hambridge said he couldn’t provide a breakdown of the waiting list between adults and children, but said children don’t face such long waits.

He said: “The three to four years is for total orthodontic waits. I haven’t got the split but children are significantly lower than that.”

NHS dental contracts

Councillors also questioned if new NHS dental contracts, which all providers in Monmouthshire are now working to, that no longer pay practices for regular six monthly check ups, would mean problems going undetected and result in fewer referrals for more advanced treatment.

But Mr Hambridge said the new contracts are intended to assess and identify oral health problems and someone’s position on a waiting list could change if they are assessed as a higher priority.

He also said a new central registration system, to be introduced across Gwent from November 20, could help the health board gauge demand for dental services as people will be asked some basic questions about their oral health.

At present patients have to register with a practice and there is no central registration system, as there is for a GP surgery, with the new registration portal, to be maintained by NHS body Digital Health Care Wales, being after it was piloted in Powys.