A SURVEY has suggested Argyll and Bute is a "dental desert", according to reports.

Questions raised to hundreds of dental practices across the country found six local authority areas unable to take on new adult NHS patients within three months.

BBC Scotland contacted almost 900 of the practices and of the 700 who replied, only one in four said they could offer NHS appointments in that timescale.

There are six dental practices in Helensburgh: Clyde View Dental Practice, Helensburgh Dental Practice, Dunlop and Humphreys Dental Practice, SP Dental, Dr S Phillips and The Dental Practice.

The other "deserts" were Dumfries and Galloway, Inverclyde, Orkney, Perth and Kinross and Shetland.

The British Dental Association in Scotland said there was a national problem with many dentists unable to afford doing NHS work.

David McColl, chair of the British Dental Association’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee, said: “The simple facts are many patients are unable to access NHS care, while practices have vacancies they can’t fill. It is two sides of the same coin.

“Scotland needs a 21st century service in which dentists would choose to build a career. Ready to shift the focus from treatment to prevention.”

The Scottish Government insisted they provided financial support to back NHS treatments, and said the provision of dental services, particularly in rural areas, was "challenging".

A spokesperson told the BBC: "Almost one year on from dental payment reform, NHS dental services are responding well to the changes with the latest figures showing over one million courses of treatment were delivered to patients in the quarter ending June 2024."