Campaigners fighting for improvements to NHS dental services in Suffolk have met with some of the people responsible for the growing crisis to share the testimonies of local people and demand action to address the system's failings.

Toothless in Suffolk campaigners Steve Marsling, Mark Jones, and NHS dentist Helen Duncan, yesterday (28 September) met with the commissioners of the NHS England and NHS Improvement for the East of England, who are responsible for the delivery of NHS dental services in the region.

Launched this summer, the Toothless in Suffolk campaign is a reaction to the increasing lack of NHS dental care across the county.

It has already attracted more than 5,000 signatures in Felixstowe, Bury St Edmunds, Ipswich and Leiston for its petition to restore access for all to NHS care and has planned a demonstration in Bury St Edmunds on 17 October to further raise the serious human cost of the massive reductions in the service.

The three Toothless in Suffolk campaigners met with commissioners David Barter and Jessica Bendon, alongside Tom Norfolk who runs a dental practice treating both NHS and private patients.

Steve Marsling said: "Let's be clear: access to NHS dental care, which is paid for by all taxpayers, should be a right. Instead, our campaign has heard hundreds of personal testimonies form Suffolk residents who can't get NHS treatment, whose children can't even be registered at their local practices and cases where those who can't afford private care have had to resort to the horrors of removing their own teeth."

Mark Jones added: "Quite frankly, the commissioners weren't much help as their hands are tied by the contracts being offered to dental practices. A small bit of good news came with some equally bad; a procurement process which began in August offering eight 'lots' of the new style contracts closed earlier this month.

"However, despite pushing David Barter to evaluate the bids as soon as possible, it's clear that only a fundamental shift in him prioritising the process, giving it the resource and attention it deserves, will give people the NHS dental care they deserve and are paying for. From what we were told, we might well have to wait until June next year to see any sign of a new NHS dental practice opening in Suffolk."

Helen Duncan, NHS dentist and campaign adviser, said: "I have devoted my professional life to dentistry and watched the system decline in recent years.

"Only the NHS can put dentistry back on track and end the widespread suffering. The commissioning team have listened to us, but there seems little enthusiasm to deliver improvements at pace. We've been offered nothing."

The Toothless in Suffolk campaign has several immediate demands, including the use of short-term emergency mobile dental clinics to address acute cases.

In the longer-term, the campaign is seeking to pressure the Government to fulfil its legal obligations in the NHS constitution to put patients first, commit to quality care and to maximise resources for the benefit of all in our communities.

The commissioners have agreed the campaign team's request to meet again in a month's time.

Free dental treatment for Felixstowe fisherfolk