In response to an Assembly question submitted by the DUP representative, it was revealed that over the last three years in the Northern Health Board area, 39 dentists have stopped providing NHS services and there are 5,000 fewer dental patients registered with the NHS now than in 2006.

Said Mr. Wilson: “These are worrying statistics and it confirms the view that more dentists are moving towards private practice and so reducing the number of patients that can be registered with NHS dentists. This is particularly worrying for pensioners.

“Many of my constituents have been asked to transfer to private plans which can in some cases cost up to 50% of their private pension.”

Mr. Wilson urged the Health Minister to either require all dentists to take a percentage of NHS patients, or make it economically feasible for dentists to keep on such patients.

“What he cannot allow to happen is a continuous loss of NHS dentists to private practices at the expense of the poorest in our society,” he concluded.