Hundreds of people were spotted queuing outside a new dental practice with hope of getting NHS dental care.
A line formed outside the former Bupa Dental Care site, now renamed Saint Pauls Dental Practice, yesterday morning, in Bristol.
The new provider, SGA Services Ltd was appointed to take over the dental surgery last year, after Bupa Dental Care closed in June.
It comes as North Bristol NHS Trust saw 235 patients enter their emergency department with dental abscesses and 55 as a result of tooth decay.
A queue was spotted outside the dental practice
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Local resident Maria, who queued from 8.30am, told BristolLive: "The dentist has been closed for some time...I couldn't get into any of the other dentists - the appointments were fully booked, the waiting lists were too long.
"I'm also a carer - although I'm nearly 80 - and I think it's important to keep up with good healthcare. It's disgusting that it was closed in the first place, I don't know why they did it.
"One of my neighbours - she's facing an operation for cancer tomorrow. She'll be somewhere in the queue. She's also disabled and can't stand for very long, but she's had no choice but to stand."
She added that she thought it was "not acceptable" that local residents were now having to queue outside the practice.
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The queue stretched down the street
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Green Party co-leader and Clifton Down councillor Carla Denyer said: "The queue for a new Bristol NHS dentist is a story of both hope (it's opened at last! well done to the campaigners!) and the brokenness of the NHS.
"We're here because savage govt cuts mean contracts for NHS dentists do not cover the costs of care. It doesn’t have to be this way."
Shadow minister for primary care and public health Preet Kaur Gill MP said: "99 per cent of dentists across the South West aren't accepting any new adult patients.
"Labour has a plan to rescue NHS dentistry: 700,000 extra urgent appointments, targeted recruitment to areas most in need & targeted toothbrushing scheme for 3-5 yr-olds."
Police Community Support Officers were called to the scene with many forced to turn people away.
An analysis of dentistry in England by the Labour Party at the end of last year revealed that four five surgeries were not accepting new adults.
A report by the Academy of Medical Sciences revealed a quarter of children have tooth decay by age five.
