Dental practices in Northern Ireland providing NHS services “may struggle to remain financially viable”, the British Dental Association (BDA) has said.
The body has warned they are becoming “increasingly dependent” on private labor to maintain healthcare dentistry in their practices.
The BDA published its election program ahead of the parliamentary elections in May.
It states that NHS care fees have fallen “by up to a quarter in real terms” over the past 10 years.
BDA Northern Ireland Council Chair Roz McMullan said an “ambitious oral health strategy” was needed.
“Northern Ireland’s dentists are working on a financial model that is no longer viable,” she said.
“Overstretched and underfunded practices involved in healthcare are struggling to remain financially viable.
“Colleagues feel they are being pushed out of NHS dentistry – at precisely the time we are facing a huge Covid backlog.
“We all need to know that this service has a future or the major oral health inequalities in the UK will only widen.”
Ms McMullan said the association is urging politicians to ensure NHS dentistry is a priority in the next mandate.
In an interview with BBC News NI’s Good Morning Ulster on Monday, she warned there was “a real possibility” that access to NHS dentistry for all was at risk.
Ms McMullan said the fees paid to dentists for NHS work have fallen by 40% in real terms since 2009.
“It got to the point where the more NHS work a practice did, the lower the income,” she said.
But Ms McMullan said dentists wanted to stay positive.
Dental disease often affects those who are less fortunate in society, she said.
“We are passionate about ensuring they can retain access to preventive-based dental care.
“We need to look for a new way of delivering dentistry that is accessible to all people when they need it for NHS dentistry.”
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The organization has also called for investment in more places at Queen’s University’s School of Dentistry.
Last year the number of allocated undergraduate places in Northern Ireland remained fixed at 60, according to the Office for Students.
Over the same period, the number of places allocated to university in England increased by 10%.
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