More than 14,000 people have registered online to join a dental practice, after it began offering NHS appointments for the first time.
Staff at Bridlington Dental Studio, which will offer 5,000 appointments per year to NHS patients, said they were taking about 70 phone calls a day from those who wanted to be added to the waiting list.
Bethany Sleeman, a manager for the practice’s parent group, described the response as “shocking”, but “not surprising”, in an area previously described as a dental desert.
Two NHS practices closed in the coastal town in 2022, leaving only a single dentist offering subsidised care in a town of 35,000 people.
Previously, Bridlington Dental Studio only treated private patients, but after winning a new contract, it opened an NHS waiting list in May and began seeing patients on 3 August.
Sarah Whiting, the NHS Lead for the practice, said in addition to the 14,000 online registrations, reception staff had answered 2,300 telephone calls in six weeks from people asking for appointments.
While the NHS contract limits routine appointments to 5,000 annually, the practice also sees 14 emergency patients a day.
Ms Whiting said the team was working through the waiting list in order, but “prioritising” children and “patients in pain”.