Dental patients in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, are to receive a welcome boost with the opening of a new NHS surgery .
The White Cross practice is expected to open in April as part of a £1.8 million investment by NHS Suffolk to increase access to NHS dental services for the residents in the area.
Health bosses state that people living in Suffolk’s urban areas should be within five miles of a dentist and those residing in rural areas should be no more than 12 miles away from a surgery .
Part of the funding will be spent on improving orthodontic services in the area and may also be invested in new practices in Sudbury, Hadleigh, Eye and Stowmarket.
The announcement has been welcomed by patients and community leaders in a region where only 22 per cent of practices are accepting new patients and a quarter of all 5-year-old children have decaying, missing or filled teeth, according to NHS Suffolk.
A spokesman for NHS Suffolk commented: "NHS Suffolk is spending £1.3 million this year to improve access to dental services across the county, with a further £500,000 for orthodontic services."
"As part of this, we are now working closely with the owners to establish the new practice in Bury St Edmunds, and further details will be announced over the coming weeks."
