NHS dentistry campaigners have forced a health commissioner to back their bid for a mobile dental unit after “twisting his arm” at a council meeting.

Steve Marsling, 72, of Toothless In Suffolk exclaimed “we’re winning” today after convincing Greg Brown, a senior manager at NHS Suffolk and North East Essex ICB, to listen to his request.

The campaign group held a rally outside Suffolk County Council today calling for “an NHS dentist for all” before asking questions at the health and scrutiny committee meeting.

Mr Marsling asked for temporary funding for a mobile unit to serve areas without access to NHS dentists.

He said: “It’s not a permanent solution I know but it’s a solution available for this desperate situation in these dental deserts.”

Mr Brown said advanced talks were being had for the ICB to fund Suffolk Public Health to provide such a mobile unit for children and homeless people.

He added he’d be “really happy to have those conversations” over including dentistry services to the project’s planned procurement bid. 

Speaking afterwards, Mr Marsling said: “I had to twist his arm for that… we're winning.

“We will have a meeting with him. I’m delighted because he’s put it on telly.”

His comments come as councillor Debbie Richards said patients were so desperate for dental treatment that local MP Tom Hunt had been sent a tooth in the post.

Sadie Parker, an NHS Integrated Care Board (ICB) director, also said government changes to dentists’ contracts in 2006 were making it “trickier” to tackle a recruitment crisis for NHS dentists.

The director of Primary Care at NHS Norfolk and Waveney ICB told councillors it was dealing with “significant”  recruitment issues with “some things beyond our control around the 2006 contract, training, dental schools... but we will be as flexible as we can be to make dentistry as attractive as possible.”

Health Watch Suffolk chief executive Andy Yacoub told the Star that the “ridiculous” Unit of Dental Activity system introduced in 2006 meant a dentist taking on NHS work is not paid extra if an initial treatment plan subsequently needs more expensive procedures.

Mr Marsling, who co-founded the group two years ago with Mark Jones after their NHS dentist practice closed in Leiston, Suffolk, told the Star of “heartbreaking” consequences for local patients.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesperson said: “We are working to improve access to NHS dental care.

“We listened to the sector and have reformed the dental contract to provide fairer payments to dentists by taking into account the time taken to do the work and incentivising practices to provide the care needed for patients with complex and high needs.

“We’re ensuring the system supports dentists and their teams by investing more than £3 billion a year and we will set out further support soon.”