Cornwall’s first Dentistry Summit held at Lys Kernow today (Friday, July 17) has ‘paved the way for positive change’.
A panel of experts led discussions and answered questions focusing on how to ensure more of our residents can access NHS dentistry.
They are now creating an action plan to show the summit has teeth and can bring about real change.
Organised by Cornwall Council and chaired by BBC Radio Cornwall presenter Julie Skentelbery, the event was live streamed to residents across our communities on Facebook, X and YouTube.
Issues raised included the difficulty accessing NHS dentists, waiting lists, the impact on children, recruiting more dentists, and funding for dentistry.
During the summit, Cornwall was described as the “Death Valley of dental deserts”.
Latest statistics show the scale of oral health issues facing our residents:
30% of five-year-olds in Cornwall have tooth decay (compared to 19.7% in the South West and 22.4% in England)
Children in deprived areas are more than twice as likely to have tooth decay. One in six children live in our most deprived areas.
Less than a third (30.6%) of adults saw an NHS dentist across 2023/24 and 2024/2025.
Less than half (48.9%) of children saw an NHS dentist in 2024/25.
Cllr Leigh Frost, Leader of Cornwall Council, said:
“Clarity for residents is the key thing here. Residents must know where to go, how to do things and how it works. If we’re not telling them, they are not going to go to the right places.
“The panel will meet after the summit to develop a concrete plan. I commit to working with our MPs to do everything we can to deliver tangible changes within our control and force government to bring tangible change that is out of our control.
“I would like to thank everyone on the panel for their contributions and for their passion on this subject. I am confident this summit will pave the way for positive change.”
Cllr Thalia Marrington, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Public Health, said:
“From today people will hopefully see the convening power of the Council to bring people together and see the willingness of all of these organisations to work together to bring about changes.
“We all agree that there is no one organisation to blame and we must all work together to make improvements. I think that’s the one thing we can do.”
Dr Eunan O’Neill, Director of Public Health for Cornwall, said:
“As Director of Public Health, I share our residents’ concerns about the state of dentistry in Cornwall. I’m delighted that my team and I have been able to support the Leader in bringing this issue to the public and show we are listening to their concerns. We must now work together to understand and ultimately fix the problems facing dentistry in Cornwall.”
The summit was also attended by two members of Cornwall Youth Council, Gabriel and Rosie, who asked what could be done to improve children’s oral health in Cornwall, given the high levels of tooth decay.
Article 24 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), adopted by Cornwall Council in December 2025, states that every child has the right to the best possible health.
Following the event, Rosie said:
“It’s been really interesting. I found it incredible the amount of young people who aren’t actually seeing a dentist at all. More than half of them haven’t had a dentist appointment in the last 12 months and we really need to work on that.
“Hopefully with collaboration from the government and from everyone on the panel and wider dentistry we will start to see some improvements.”
Gabriel said:
“I’m shocked by the state of NHS dentistry in Cornwall for everybody, but particularly young people, and I think this sets people up for a lifetime of problems. We really need to look at how we can improve that situation and I really hope we can go forward from this summit and the panel will do what they say they will.
“I hope Cornwall can now remove itself from the terrible position of having the worst dental access in the country.”
More information on the summit can be found on the Let’s Talk Cornwall website.
Cllr Frost added:
“A recording of the summit can be found on Youtube, Facebook and X, I’d encourage anyone who wasn’t able to watch it live to do so in their own time.”