DENTISTS in Wales called out the Welsh government today over “spin, half-truths and doublespeak” on dentistry in the country.

In an open letter to Welsh Health Secretary Jeremy Miles, the British Dental Association (BDA) Cymru said: “We are clear that NHS dentistry in Wales is at a crossroads, and this profession and the patients we treat require honesty.”

The union was responding to Mr Miles’s open letter to the profession last month, claiming that the Welsh General Dental Practice Committee refused to continue negotiations.

“This is a spectacular act of bad faith, and our letter is to put the record straight,” BDA Cymru said.

The dentists’ union disagreed with Welsh government ministers’ claims that investment and patient numbers are breaking records. 

It said: “The reality is that investment in dentistry has stalled, and the number of patients seen in a year remains depressed by 30 per cent compared with 2019 figures.”

The letter said it was time patients were given the dental service they deserve and, in an excoriating passage, accused the minister of raising “false hopes by announcing the Dental Access Portal to the public as if it could magically create extra appointments from thin air.”

Plaid Cymru’s health spokesman Mabon ap Gwynfor MS said: “Labour are once again gaslighting the people of Wales in an attempt to distance themselves from the crisis enveloping dentistry. 

“But the people of Wales experience this crisis daily, with people forced to go private, others having to travel lengthy distances, and in extreme cases pulling out their own teeth.”

The Welsh government said: “We are working to ensure the NHS dental contract is fairer for patients and to the dental profession.

“We will be putting the proposals out for consultation soon before any new contract is finalised.”