DENTAL services in Dorset are still feeling the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, according to figures which show activity is yet to recover to pre-crisis levels.

The British Dental Association said the latest figures – which show treatments remain below pre-pandemic levels despite a surge in activity – show NHS dentistry is "on its last legs" and in need of urgent change.

In the year to March, a total of 368,694 courses of treatment were delivered to adults and children in the former Dorset CCG area, figures from NHS Digital show.

This was more than double the 172,047 treatments delivered in 2020-21, but still 32 per cent below the pre-pandemic figure of 540,821.

Different figures show in the two years to June, 231,498 adults saw their local NHS dentist in Dorset – 37 per cent of the over-18 population.

That represented another fall from 42 per cent in the 24 months to June 2021, which saw dental activity first hampered by the pandemic, and a drop from 52 per cent in the two years to June 2019.

Some 46 per cent of children (65,947) were seen by NHS dentists between July 2021 and June this year, compared to 34 per cent over the same period the previous year, and 60 per cent in 2018-19.

Across England, dentists carried out 26.4 million treatments in 2021-22, though the BDA said this is just two-thirds of the average volumes delivered annually in the five years prior to the pandemic – 39.4 million.

Eddie Crouch, chairman of the BDA, said: "What we're seeing isn't a recovery, but a service on its last legs.

"The Government will be fooling itself and millions of patients if it attempts to put a gloss on these figures.

"NHS dentistry is lightyears away from where it needs to be. Unless ministers step up and deliver much needed reform and decent funding, this will remain the new normal."

Separate NHS Digital figures show there were 363 NHS dentists working across the former NHS Dorset CCG area in the year to March – meaning each one had the equivalent of 2,140 patients on their roster.

An NHS spokesman said: “The latest data show dental services are recovering post-pandemic, with over 26 million patient treatments delivered last year – up 120 per cent from the year before, along with 1.7 million more children getting seen by an NHS dentist.

“To further support the ongoing restoration of NHS dentistry, we recently announced the first significant changes to dentistry since 2006, helping practices to improve access for the patients that need dental care the most.”

In July, clinical commissioning groups were abolished and replaced with integrated care boards across England.