Harley calls for end to dental deserts as kids wait years for appointments

Scottish Liberal Democrat health spokesperson Adam Harley MSP has today revealed new figures showing the long waits that Scottish kids are facing to access dental services and said that the Scottish Government must end ‘dental deserts’ by giving dentists a fair deal and cutting red tape.

Figures uncovered by Scottish Liberal Democrats through freedom of information legislation reveal:

• Children in at least ten health boards had to wait more than a year for a dental inpatient appointment last year.
• The average waiting time for an inpatient appointment for kids in the Scottish Borders is now more than a year. In Lanarkshire it is 34 weeks and in Glasgow it is 29 weeks. No health board reported average waits of less than nine weeks.
• Children in at least nine health boards had to wait more than for a dental outpatient appointment last year, with patients in five health boards waiting more than two years.
• The average waiting time for an outpatient appointment for kids in Lanarkshire is now 66 weeks. In Ayrshire & Arran it is 47 weeks and in Shetland it is 29 weeks.

In government, Scottish Liberal Democrats introduced free NHS dental check-ups and established a new dental school to address shortages. In the 2025/26 Scottish Budget, Scottish Liberal Democrats also secured extra training places for dentists.

The party would build on this by:

• Incorporating dentistry into a rolling, 10-year NHS and care workforce plan, and addressing the shortage of dental nurses and technicians.
• Bringing dentists back to the NHS from the private sector and retaining dentists by creating more opportunities for career development, including an expansion of Enhanced Skills Practitioners.
• Creating a structured and supportive environment for overseas-qualified dentists to provide NHS dentistry in Scotland, following the UK Government’s big expansion of their routes to registration.
• Reinvigorating the schemes for people in vulnerable groups to ensure that they can always get the appointments and check-ups they need, with every care home getting regular visits from a dentist.

Mr Harley said:

“Good toothcare sets kids up for life, but these figures show that both parents and children are struggling to get an appointment.

“Under the SNP government, there’s a scarcity of NHS dentists in large parts of Scotland.

“Scottish Liberal Democrats believe that toothcare should be like any other form of medical treatment: universally accessible and close to home.

“We’re committed to finding solutions and getting things done. We have a plan to end dental deserts and make sure everyone can register with and see an NHS dentist. The SNP should back those plans today.”