Girl, 6, suffers with black rotten teeth after dad unable to register with a dentist in Wakefield

Habeeb Faqirzai said he has sought an NHS dentist around the district as well as neighbouring Dewsbury and Barnsley but was told there was no room for daughter Madina.

Her teeth have dark patches and some are cracked.

Mr Faqirzai said: "I’ve been all over and we’ve been told we are busy and you cannot register. I rang 111 and they said they can’t put you through to a dentist

"My daughter needs the attention of a dentist. Her teeth are not black because she is not cleaning – she cleans them twice a day, morning and night,

“I’m not sure I can’t do anything right now, I am hopeless right now. There should be more capacity and we shouldn’t have to wait until the problem gets this bad before we are seen.”

The Faqirzai family’s plight follows the publication of a new report that lays bare the problem of child tooth decay in the district.

A report by Wakefield Council’s adult services, public health and the NHS committee shows that 40 per cent of 12-year-old in the district have tooth decay.

And the Oral Health Survey (2019) showed that in the Wakefield district, more than 25 per cent of five-year-olds had some tooth decay.

Mr Faqirzai’s problem was raised by Wakefield MP Simon Lightwood in the House of Commons.

Responding to Mr Lightwood’s question, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said that the government had recently reformed the NHS dentistry contract, providing more funding, but that he was sorry to hear of the specific case.

But Eddie Crouch, chairman of theBritish Dental Association dismissed the Prime Minister’s response.

He said: "The Prime Minister has offered a grotesque misrepresentation of a crisis facing millions.

"Our patients are living with the reality.

"The facts are there are no new dentists, no new contract and no new money.

"All we've seen are tweaks at the margins. We need honesty, ambition and investment to save a service on its last legs."

Mr Lightwood said, "There is no doubt that we are facing a national dental emergency.

"The government continues to make empty promises about reforming NHS dentistry. What we need is action.

“Tooth decay, extractions and significant dental pain are increasing in children as young as five.

“It is shocking that less than half of Wakefield's children saw a NHS dentist last year.

“This is simply not good enough – the government is letting our children down."

Almost a year ago a senior Wakefield dentist warned the struggles of many people to access dental treatment are unlikely to be eased anytime soon.

Joe Hendron, who runs St Michael's Dental Practice on Dewsbury Road in Wakefield said changes to dentistry funding by national government in the mid-2000s were to blame for the issue.

Mr Hendron, who is also chair of the Wakefield and District Dental Committee, warned that the situation was unlikely to drastically change in the near future.

In April 2021 he said there were no plans to further expand dental practices in Wakefield as far as he was aware.