Dentists must put something back: Anderson

She said: “There is a clear need for greater regulation of the way dentists work here.We are only too aware of the problems in Derry over recent years caused by the lack of dentists carrying out NHS treatment.

“Thousands of people who maybe hadn’t been to the dentist for a while found themselves struck off the list and unable to find a dentist anywhere who was willing to treat them unless they had the money to pay for it.”

The Sinn Fin candidate said people in the city are resorting to loans to pay for treatment and in many more cases simply suffering in silence.

“It is quite simply wrong that people in pain are turned away yet it is still happening. I believe that dentists – who were trained at the public expense – should have to put something back in terms of providing an adequate service for NHS patients,” she said.

“That is why I have formally called on the Health Minister Michael McGimpsey to introduce new legislation to regulate the way dentist practices operate to ensure that a suitable quota of NHS patients are seen in each practice so that everyone who needs dental treatment has access to it,” she commented.