Bromsgrove Lib Dems have revealed almost half of children across Worcestershire and Herefordshire have not been seen by a dentist over the past year.

The research, commissioned from the House of Commons Library, estimates that 48.5% of children did not receive NHS dental care in the year to June 2023 based on the latest data from the health service.

This is despite the NHS recommending that under-18s see a dentist at least once a year as their teeth can decay faster than adults who are advised to see a dentist at least once every two years.

The Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Bromsgrove, Dr David Nicholl, said: “Every parent knows how important it is to ensure that their children can see a dentist when they need to. Leaving children in pain can disrupt their eating, sleeping and learning.

“This Conservative government has shown a total disregard for every aspect of our health service and the people of Bromsgrove are bearing the brunt of it. Wherever you look, the NHS is crumbling.”

Alongside the estimated 72,309 children who have gone without dental care over the past 12 months, the research revealed that 376,525 or 61.3% of adults across Worcestershire and Herefordshire had not been seen in the past two years.

The new data comes as the Lib Dems are set to adopt a pre-manifesto at their autumn conference this weekend, including a commitment to reform NHS dentistry so that no one is forced to pay hundreds of pounds for private care.

The party is also calling for an emergency rescue plan for NHS dentistry including spending any funding that has gone unspent in recent years as well as the removal of VAT on children’s dentistry products.

Dr Nicholl added: “This has to act as a wake-up call for the government. A rescue package for Bromsgrove’s dentistry is urgently needed.

“That means reforming NHS dentistry to boost the number of appointments along with removing VAT on children’s toothbrushes and toothpaste.”

In a statement made to the House of Commons, Conservative MP and Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, said: “The picture is improving, but we recognise there’s more to do.

"That’s why we’ve already made a number of reforms to the dental contract and it’s why we have the plans which we’ll announce shortly.”