MANY locals are being put on waiting lists in order to get an appointment, resulting in many being forced to seek private dental care.

Debbie Jones Spark and her husband have been patients at Raby Road Dental Practice in Neston for more than 20 years.

She said: “I’ve got to be honest I hate the dentist, but I do go every couple of years.”

Debbie, who has lived in Neston all her life, explained that she called her dentist just before the pandemic hit asking for an appointment, but got no response.

Now the pandemic has calmed down, she decided to call the dentist to ask for an appointment for her and her husband.

The dentist explained that because it has been more than three years since the pair last visited, they have been struck off, meaning they are unable to make an appointment and will have to be put on a waiting list.

Debbie said: “Through not pestering them during the pandemic and remaining courteous we’re now being punished.

“I think I’m going to contact a few private dentists to see what sort of costing it will be.”

Debbie explained that she has had heart-valve repair and the dentist has always caused her stress.

If she was to get any infections in her teeth it would travel straight to her heart which would cause major problems for her.

She said: “I’ve always been told by my heart specialist to look after my teeth. This is so important for me as I’m going to see my heart specialist next month and I don’t want to go there and tell them I don’t have a dentist.

“What I’m upset about is if this was the case, why weren’t we sent an email or a letter to inform us if we let it go past three years, we were going to lose our place.”

People have been quick to share their personal experiences online.

Karen Major wrote: “This happened to my husband, after phoning dozens of dentists he had no choice but to go private.”

Julia Clare said: “I could not find a NHS dentist at all. I ended up going to Heswall and joining denplan for £30 a month.”

Maxine Wellsbury explained: “This happened to my husband. We’ve been trying to get him into another dentist for months and get nowhere. They just say they can’t take new NHS patients.”

Christina Jones added: “This happened to John in a dentist in Ellesmere Port as he hadn’t been for ages, they said he’s no longer a patient there. I’ve tried ringing others but nowhere is taking on patients so they just give us a number for an emergency dentist.”