General Election candidates standing in Isle of Wight East have been sinking their teeth into the Island's dental crisis, ahead of next month's vote.

Islanders young and old are struggling to get an appointment and Healthwatch Isle of Wight has laid bare the level of distress it is causing.

The County Press asked the six candidates standing in the East constituency what they would do to tackle the problem.

In 120 words, here's what they said...

For Island Labour, Emily Brothers said: "The Conservatives yawning failure to drill into the dental crisis to extract solutions has been like pulling teeth. Latest figures indicate 73% of dentists in Isle of Wight East are not accepting new NHS patients.

"Labour’s plan to make our NHS fit for purpose, includes a step-change in dentistry. Labour will:

  • provide an extra 700,000 urgent dental appointments and reform the NHS dental contract;
  • offer incentives for new dentists to work in areas with the greatest need to prioritise appointments;
  • introduce supervised toothbrushing in schools for 3-5 year olds, targeted at the areas with highest childhood tooth decay;
  • shift the focus to prevention, so that in the long term, everyone who needs NHS dentistry can access it.

Independent David Groocock said: "Improving dentistry is one of my campaign pledges, everyone should be entitled to a NHS Dentist, we achieve this by:

"Taking away the penalties that Dentists incur if they fail to reach their targets, the stress on dental practises to keep up is forcing many practices into private healthcare.

"Going back to basics and improving and reintroducing special Dentistry Universities or Colleges to get more young people taking it up as a career choice.

"And more incentives to open up new NHS practices up and down the country."

Isle of Wight Liberal Democrat candidate Michael Lilley said: "The solution is for the current funding formula for dentists to be changed so not only NHS dentists are retained but also that new ones join them.

"I have worked with NHS Dentists at award-winning Denbigh House, the Isle of Wight’s largest and sole NHS Dentist and Hampshire and Isle of Wight NHS Commissioners (Integrated Care Board) in finding a local funding formula to increase availability of NHS dental appointments on the Island.

"However, the rates the Government set for NHS dental treatment needs increasing and this would be one of my priorities as an MP.

"Lib Dem’s policy is to “end dental deserts,” including an emergency scheme to guarantee children and young mothers free dental check-ups on the NHS."

Vix Lowthion, for the Isle of Wight Green Party, said: "The lack of NHS dentists on the Island is a national scandal - but particularly acute in more isolated areas such as the Island.

"And this really matters. Some hospital staff have reported increased incidents of scurvy, sepsis and DIY dentistry..! But neither of the two main parties come out of this well: The last Labour government introduced the dental contracts and then the coalition government made huge cuts to NHS dentistry budgets.

"We need new dental contracts agreed. Dentists must be paid for the full costs of NHS dental treatment, and then it would be viable for them to do NHS work.

"Green Party prospective MPs have already made this an urgent priority for when they are elected."

Sarah Morris, for Reform UK, said: "We currently have record levels of funding going into the NHS, but record waiting list at the same time. We know there is enough money in the pot, it’s just being used in the wrong ways and paid to the wrong people.

"We need to cut waste from the system and this will provide more frontline staff, and therefore appointments. Lifting the cap on pension pots for GPs and consultants would encourage them to do more hours.

"We would lift the cap on medical students as well, and have a 0% interest rate for student loans to encourage British students to train.

We would also give frontline staff tax incentives to work directly for the NHS and not an agency."

For the Isle of Wight Conservatives, Joe Robertson said: "The national framework for dentistry was brought in by Labour in 2006.

"It was not particularly well thought out at the time and it’s now out of date and in need of reform. On the Island, NHS dental contracts are provided by the local Integrated Care Board (ICB).

"Unfortunately, last year the ICB issued inflexible contracts meaning that some providers could have delivered more NHS appointments while other providers did not manage to deliver the appointments they were allocated.

"As a result, there was a £3million underspend – money available but not spent due to local contracting.

"The ICB must do better, and make sure all the NHS money we have available is used so more Islanders can get an appointment."

  • For Isle of Wight West: Cameron Palin, Green Party; Ian Pickering, Reform UK; Richard Quigley, Labour; Bob Seely, Conservative; Nick Stuart, Liberal Democrat, Rachel Thacker, ADF.