Oldham tops dental-uptake league

A HIGHER proportion of Oldham’s over-18s are looking after their teeth than in any other town in Greater Manchester.

New figures from the region’s 10 primary care trusts found Oldham topped the league for the proportion of adults seeing a dentist.

There are currently 62.7 per cent registered with a dentist, which is up almost 8 per cent from the 2006 figure of 54.9 per cent.

Oldham is one of only three primary care trust areas above the 60 per cent mark, and it also had the highest percentage increase overall over the past five years.

The percentage of over-18s registered with a dentist in the other seven trusts are below 60 per cent, with the lowest being Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale, at 53.1 per cent. Welcoming the news of Oldham’s success, a pleased Shauna Dixon, NHS Oldham chief executive, said: “We have put significant investment into dentistry which has brought new dentists and dental practices to Oldham and enabled many more patients to be seen.

“We have helped 10 existing dental practices employ more dentists.

“And we have also supported work to ensure there are a range of health professionals with different skills in practices to free up more time for dentists.

“Health workers also help us to promote the uptake of dental care to patients.”

Since 2006, six new NHS dental practices have opened in Oldham, at Glodwick, Fitton Hill, Chadderton, Moorside, Springhead and Uppermill.

And the last 15 months has seen two new dental practices opening in Chadderton and Uppermill.”

The troubled economy and rising dentist bills have been blamed for slumps in the number of people seeing a dentist in some areas.

A standard check-up from an NHS dentist is £17, up from £15.90 in 2008. A course of treatment costs £47, with complicated treatment costing £204.