A DENTIST in Llandeilo will no longer offer treatment to NHS dental patients.

Tywi Dental Practice has notified its NHS patients that the practice will no longer be carrying out NHS dental treatment.

The news – which was raised in the Senedd recently – came after Ammanford’s Margaret Street practice closed last year.

It is a blow for residents as a Freedom of Information request found that more than 3,464 residents in Llandeilo and Llanelli were waiting for an NHS dentist.

Cefin Campbell, Plaid Cymru MS for Mid and West Wales, raised the issue in the Senedd during a dental reform statement from the health minister.

He said that there was a dental crisis facing Carmarthenshire communities, using the example of Tywi Dental Practice and the Freedom of Information data.

The BBC conducted research in 2022, which found that no dental practices in mid and west Wales were accepting adult NHS patients and that Hywel Dda University Health Board had lost 20 NHS dentists between 2018 and 2022.

Eluned Morgan, health minister for the Welsh Government, said that action had been taken to address the growing crisis, which included efforts to enhance dental trainees in rural Wales and access to NHS dentists for children.

She said: “Dentistry is one of my top priorities, I want to develop and NHS dental service that is fair for dentists and that meets the needs of the population, one that is based on preventative principles, and provides everybody with an opportunity to take responsibility for their own oral health.”

Mr Campbell said: “In Carmarthenshire and across the whole of Mid & West Wales, we’re facing an emergency in NHS dental provision.

“There has been a lot of talk recently about a ‘two tier’ dental system in Wales – those on NHS and those reliant on private care. However, it’s increasingly clear a third tier is emerging – those unable to access or afford any dental care at all.

"The Welsh Government needs to accept that private dental care is not an acceptable alternative for many families and needs to urgently review access to NHS dental provision.”

Adam Price, MS for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, said: “Recent years have seen NHS dental provision cease in areas such as Newcastle Emlyn, Ammanford and now Llandeilo.

"Thousands of residents have been left high and dry, with many simply unable to afford private dental care – leading to a vicious circle of further problems with oral hygiene and health down the line.

“It’s clear the Welsh Government are failing to come to grips with this growing dental crisis and much more must be done to address the situation.”

Tywi Dental Practice and Hywel Dda University Health Board were contacted for comment, but have not responded.