Patients in Fermanagh and South Tyrone are facing growing difficulties accessing NHS dental care as more practices reduce provision or shift towards private treatment, the Northern Ireland Assembly has heard.
During a Stormont debate, Democratic Unionist Party MLA Deborah Erskine said the situation had deteriorated since she first raised concerns about dental access in February 2025.
'Quite frankly, nothing has changed on the ground; in fact, the picture has probably got worse since then,' she said.
Ms Erskine warned that Northern Ireland has been experiencing the most rapid decline in health service dentistry anywhere in the UK, with NHS dentistry in the region facing an 'existential crisis'.
She added that patients on lower incomes were unable to afford private alternatives.
'With increasing numbers of private dentists, many of my constituents are being priced out of accessing healthcare,' she said.
Northern Ireland health minister Mike Nesbitt told Members of the Legislative Assembly that an additional £8m had been allocated to support health service dentistry, although he acknowledged the funding alone would not resolve underlying pressures.
The investment has been made to maintain a 30% enhancement to fees for fillings, extractions and root canal treatment, alongside enhanced child examination schemes and increased activity support payments.
Mr Nesbitt also confirmed that an emergency dental unit would be established in Fermanagh and South Tyrone as part of wider commissioning plans within the Western Trust area, alongside the creation of additional dental foundation training places.
'It is planned that the centre – the emergency unit – will be housed in [Ms Erskine’s] constituency of Fermanagh and South Tyrone,' he said.
However, Ms Erskine made the point that dentists were under growing financial pressure and struggling to sustain NHS services.
'As a local dentist said to me, they keep their NHS lists to a minimum to be able to pay for their overheads,' she said.
The Fermanagh and South Tyrone MLA also expressed concerns about out-of-hours provision.
'On a weekend, you are literally relying on their goodwill to provide treatment in my constituency,' Ms Erskine said.
While welcoming plans for the new emergency clinic, she called for more detail on delivery, timescales and investment.
She also urged publication of a long-awaited cost-of-service review for dentistry, arguing that piecemeal interventions would not address wider sustainability concerns.
'Dentists feel the pressure. They have been sounding the alarm, and they need action,' Ms Erskine said.