Health chiefs will offer thousands of new NHS dentistry places in a bid to end the huge inequality in Kirklees.

More than 1,700 new places will be offered across six dental practices in north Kirklees this summer, followed by almost 2,000 more in the following two years.

The £528,000 investment in dental care comes after years of campaigning by patient group Healthwatch Kirklees and Dewsbury MP Paula Sherriff.

Healthwatch has long highlighted the chronic shortage of NHS dental places in north Kirklees compared with Huddersfield.

Charity Dentaid is offering free treatment at a host of locations in North Kirklees over the next two weeks

It discovered that in Huddersfield’s leafy Greenhead ward there were more than ten times the number of subsidised NHS places, compared with Dewsbury West, one of the most deprived areas of West Yorkshire.

An NHS check-up costs about £20 compared to more than double that if you are a private patient.

Rory Deighton, Director of Healthwatch Kirklees, said: “We welcome the additional resources that have been invested in the Dewsbury area.

“For Healthwatch Kirklees, this is the culmination of five years work on this issue and we’re glad that the hundreds of stories we have collected and shared with NHS England have had an impact.

“But this is not the whole picture.

“In the last three years NHS England has clawed back £6m from NHS dental contracts in West Yorkshire.

“The Dewsbury money is part of a reinvestment of around 25% of that figure.

Charity Dentaid is offering free treatment at a host of locations in North Kirklees over the next two weeks

“So while the investment in Dewsbury is great, we are still cutting money from NHS dentistry in West Yorkshire faster than we are reinvesting it.

“And over the same period, the government has increased dental fees for patients by 15%, effectively increasing peoples taxes and privatising NHS dentistry by stealth.

“The reality is that until we get a new national NHS Dental Contract patients will continue to suffer from poor access to services in Kirklees.”

Miss Sherriff, who has highlighted the lack of dental care in her constituency in Parliament, said she cautiously welcomed the release of extra funding.

She said: “For too long NHS dentistry in our area has been in a state of perpetual decay.

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“I’ve been fighting to prioritise this issue for those constituents who have told me it’s impossible to access an NHS dentist in our area.

“Dewsbury has recently benefited from the services of the charity Dentaid and their mobile dental unit but this is one off provision for those in the greatest need.

“We simply shouldn’t have to look to a charity that usually operates in developing countries to provide essential dental care.

“From my discussions with NHS England it is clear that commissioners are doing what they can but most practices will have long waiting lists and while it’s great that many who are waiting will now receive places, this project alone will not address the woeful lack of NHS dental provision in our area.

“The time has come for the government to come up with a coherent strategy for oral health that focuses on prevention, addresses regional inequalities and invests in NHS dentistry to secure long- term improvements to access. Rest assured I’ll keep pressing ministers to act.”

After meeting with NHS England, who are responsible for commissioning dental services, she has been told that six practices will benefit.

From July 1, the following will have extra capacity for NHS patients;

Thornhill Dental Surgery Ltd, 4 Edge Lane, Dewsbury; Church Street Dental Partnership, Baker & Rigby Dental Surgeons, 10 Church Street, Dewsbury; Wood Dental Ltd, Dental Surgery, 98 Huddersfield Road, Mirfield; Mr M Bala, Osborne And O’Boyle, 147 Wakefield Road, Huddersfield; Mr KT Crummey, Empire House Dental Surgery, Unit 10 Empire House, Dewsbury.

From August 1, Mr NV O’Donovan, Dewsbury Dental Centre, 15 Halifax Road, Dewsbury will also offer more places.

An further 1,965 places will be made available in the second and third years of the project.