NHS dentistry in Scotland faces an “existential threat” as analysis shows more than half of capacity has been lost compared to pre-pandemic levels.

The British Dental Association (BDA) will give evidence to Holyrood’s Covid-19 Recovery Committee on Thursday after its research highlighted the scale of the backlogs after dentists were closed to routine care.

Comparing treatment delivered after lockdown restrictions were eased compared to pre-Covid in March 2020 found there has been a loss of 52% of dentistry capacity.

The BDA has said capacity in dentistry is significantly impacted compared to other NHS services such as GPs, where more than 30% of face-to-face appointments have been lost, and 6% for outpatient hospital appointments.

David McColl, chair of the BDA’s Scottish Dental Practice Committee, said the scale of the problem means Scotland has lost more than a year’s worth of NHS dentistry.

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