Dental student hopes as mum 'gives up' on NHS
BBCA mother has said she has "given up" searching for an NHS dentist in Portsmouth - after four years of trying.
Oge said it was "impossible" to find a practice in the city for both her and her 10-month-old daughter, who is now growing teeth and needs her first check.
NHS figures show Portsmouth has 15 dentists per 100,000 head of population, well below the national average of 42.
It comes as the University of Portsmouth Dental Academy - which trains dental nurses and hygienists - has been granted Dental Authority Status allowing it to train dentists.
Having moved to the UK from Nigeria, Oge pays the immigration health surcharge as part of her visa application to allow her to access NHS services.
She said: "Even as an immigrant, I pay ahead for health surcharge, so it's like I'm paying double insurance for health, and I can't even get something as simple as dental treatment."
Oge recalled trying to contact dental practises after she moved to Portsmouth from Oxfordshire in 2021.
"I ended up not being able to find any because each of the ones I try is either no longer taking NHS patients on, or they don't renew their contract and are no longer working with NHS," she said.
She only managed to have a dental check-up thanks to the charity DentAid, which offers free check-ups in a mobile clinic. It identified and treated a cavity.
Oge's 10-month-old daughter Amara is now due an early-years dental check.
"I realised it's the same issue with the adults that the babies are also facing," Oge said. "So it's either you have been made to go private or you don't have dental at all.
"It's really sad because you realise that people are going to have dental problems without being able to find a solution.
"I've stopped looking actually because every effort I've made to search and get one to be registered has hit the brick wall."
It is hoped the upgrading of status of the University of Portsmouth's dental academy will allow aspiring "home grown" dentists to begin licenced training as early as September.
The academy's facilities were upgraded in 2023 meaning it was "well placed" to develop into a dental school, the university said.
Staff and students at the unit regularly take part in outreach activities, including offering free dental health services to the public and delivering the education programmes in schools.
The university is now awaiting the government's decision on how many additional dentistry students will be funded across the UK, followed by the allocation of places to dental schools.
The vice-chancellor of the University of Portsmouth, Prof Graham Galbraith, called the move to Dental Authority Status a "landmark moment".
"Portsmouth and the wider south-east region desperately need more NHS dentists, and we are ready to train the next generation of dental professionals right here in the heart of one of the country's most underserved areas," he said.
"There's a lot of evidence to show that if you do recruit from the locality, those individuals on graduation are much more likely to stay in the area."
Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said: "The statistics speak for themselves - 24% of patients in the south east who tried to see an NHS dentist in the previous two years were unable to do so.
"Training our own dentists here in Portsmouth means we can build a sustainable NHS dental workforce that understands and serves our community's needs."
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