MORE and more people are getting access to NHS dental care in and around Morecambe Bay.

That's the official line from the area's Primary Care Trust as it recruits more dentists.

Dental access centres have been able to provide an extra 3,000 treatments so far this year and projections indicate that 13,000 more treatments will be provided by the end of March, it says.

People in pain and in need of urgent treatment have been first to feel the benefit, though it is envisaged that more routine treatments will soon be available.

The Trust says that, in addition, new contracts have been agreed with four dental practices, securing NHS services for more than 28,000 people.

It is also in discussion with a further 10 practices who have expressed an interest in taking up new, locally negotiated contracts.

Chief executive Dr Leigh Griffin says the Trust is so confident it is turning the corner on dental access that it plans to open a telephone helpline in December to offer patients appointments for urgent treatment and also direct them towards a dentist with the capacity to provide routine care.

He says that people wanting routine care may be placed on a waiting list initially. But he anticipates that need will reduce over the next 12 months as the service develops.