Liberal Democrat Public Health spokesman Jamie Stone says new statistics show that rural and remote areas have particularly low levels of dental registration.

Only half of the people in NHS Grampian are registered with a dentist. In half the NHS boards in Scotland, less than two thirds of residents are registered with a dentist.

In the more urban NHS boards such as Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Forth Valley, and Lanarkshire, more than 75% of residents are registered with a dentist.

Commenting, Jamie Stone said:

“The rural and remote areas have the worst registration rates in Scotland.

“This is because we have a worrying shortage of dentists.

“Dentists are not being targeted in the rural and remote areas where they are needed the most.

“The Aberdeen postgraduate dental school should be bringing more dentists to areas like the North East and the Highlands, but obviously not enough is being done to persuade them to stay.

“Rural and remote parts of Scotland cannot be left behind. Everyone has an equal right to access NHS services including dentistry, no matter where in the country they live.”