TAVISTOCK will have a new NHS dental practice this summer, providing care to between 5,000 and 7,000 new patients. The practice, which will house two full-time dentists, will be situated at West Devon Borough Council's offices at Kilworthy Park which are currently being redesigned and extended to include commercial and office space. The good news comes as Devon Primary Care Trust celebrates a dramatic drop in the number of people in the county waiting to be allocated to an NHS dentist thanks to flexibility in the new dental contract and the ability to recruit more dentists from overseas due to the expansion of the European Union. Trust communications officer Claire Wright said: 'We have commissioned a company to convert a premises in Tavistock for use and organise the recruitment of two dentists. It is hoped that by July the surgery will up and running and patients being treated.' In 2005 there were 48,000 people in Devon waiting to be allocated to an NHS dentist — that number has now dropped to 11,000. Several new NHS practices have opened across Devon and some have expanded. A new dental helpline has been set up to assist patients looking for an NHS dentist — to add your name to the list call 0845 002 0034. West Devon Borough corporate director Lesley Halton said the council was pleased to be able to rent space to the new dental practice: 'It will make access to NHS dentistry easier for the community.'
