Debate contribution: Dental Services: Fermanagh and South Tyrone

Debate contribution by Ms Diana Armstrong on 25 February 2025.

MLA

Ms Diana Armstrong

Party at the time

Ulster Unionist Party

Date

25 February 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Adjournment

Heading

Dental Services: Fermanagh and South Tyrone

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4815547

Read the official Assembly record

Text

I thank my constituency colleague Deborah Erskine for securing the Adjournment debate and the Minister for attending this evening. At the outset, I wish to say that I do not believe that any of us for one moment underestimates the scale of the problem facing dentistry in Northern Ireland. It is clear from reports in the media just last week that NHS dentistry is a problem across every corner of the UK. There is an undoubted challenge in our constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone. The model of dentistry has changed remarkably in recent years. While I do not doubt that many of our dentists still work incredibly hard to help as many patients as possible, it is a simple matter of fact that, as more and more dental practitioners pivot towards private work, many people experience real and significant difficulties in accessing NHS dental services. Unfortunately, in an area as large and rural as ours, people are often left with little choice but to travel long distances. Fortunately, despite the unprecedented funding challenges facing the health service locally, the Minister and his predecessor decided to prioritise funding for high-priority unregistered patients in need of urgent dental care. The new dental access scheme was given a not insignificant budget of £4 million, and, whilst it has helped many people across Northern Ireland, unfortunately, there is still room for further progress in the south-west. Regrettably, the number of practices signing up in our area has been low, and, whilst the Department cannot force practices to participate, I urge the Minister to continue to impress on his officials the need to proactively identify a suitable provider. After all, people in the rural villages and townlands of Fermanagh and South Tyrone deserve no less than the dental options available to their urban counterparts. A further dental issue that continues to cause me concern is the state of children's oral health. I welcome the re-establishment of the enhanced child examination scheme, which provides children aged nought to 10 who have not registered with a dentist with an examination, as well as offering direct and impartial oral health advice and an age-specific fluoride application to teeth to prevent dental decay. Again, however, parents are, regrettably, telling me that, more generally, access for children remains a challenge. I know that tackling health inequalities is a strong area of interest for the Minister, and I am sure that the stark inequalities that exist in oral health have not been lost on him. All the indications suggest that areas of high deprivation have much higher rates of tooth decay than wealthier areas. Fixing the many profound health problems that challenge our oral health will not be quick, and it will certainly not be easy. Instead, it will take a period of sustained policy intervention, and, while some MLAs may be reluctant to acknowledge it, it will take sustained investment. For as long as the Executive and Assembly continue to pass Budgets that fall short of independently verified levels of health need, I worry about how those sustained interventions will be delivered. Nevertheless, I encourage the Minister and his officials to continue to work with our dental colleagues to deliver the improvements in dental access that patients require. I thank Members from Fermanagh and South Tyrone and other constituencies for contributing to the Adjournment debate.

556 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

Assessment

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 12:02 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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