An NHS dentist in Oldham has revealed the pressures dentist practices are enduring, from the cost-of-living crisis to stagnant recruitment in what he describes as an underfunded area of healthcare.

Dr Mohsan Ahmad, a dentist and partner at four dental practices in Greater Manchester, including Glodwick Dental Centre, said dental practices are struggling to meet the demand for care as they are fighting a crisis on multiple fronts.

He said dental surgeries are feeling the pinch in the cost-of-living crisis, especially since practices don't receive financial help with bills that other parts of healthcare are given.

However, Dr Ahmad, who has worked as a dentist for 17 years, also said the industry is fighting a recruitment crisis, too.

He explained: "Although there are new dentists qualifying, they don't have the appetite to want to work in the NHS and instead go down the private practice route."

Dr Ahmad said one of his Tameside practices has been unable to recruit a single dentist in the last 12 months which he said has "never been a problem until this last year".

When asked why dentists are deterred from working in the NHS, Dr Ahmad, who is also the chair of the Greater Manchester Local Dental Network, said the problem is compounded by patients failing to turn up to their appointments, poor pay and unrealistic targets.

He explained: "A lot of it is so target driven.

"We have these things called UDA's, units of dental activity, which are hard to achieve - especially in areas like Greater Manchester where patients have higher needs compared to areas down south."

He said this means dentists are more likely to face patients who require multiple treatments but that an NHS dentist is only paid as though they are treating one problem.

"It just isn't financially viable - to have numerous appointments and get paid pittance for it", he added.

The dentist's comments come as people across Oldham claim they cannot sign up to an NHS dentist, leaving many suffering in pain and with dental problems as a result.

The Oldham Times found the NHS website is rarely updated to indicate when a practice is taking on new NHS patients, but Dr Ahmad said this was because dental practices "worry" about announcing room for new patients as they become "inundated" with hundreds of calls that soon outstrip capacity.

In a bid to patch up the problem, the NHS has brought in new incentives this week which will see NHS dentists given more funding to cover patients' additional treatment needs.

Dr Ahmad welcomed the move but said dentists have been "banging on about this for 10 to 12 years" and said more needs to be done.

He said: "In Greater Manchester, we only have enough NHS dental funding for 60 per cent of the population.

"So no matter what changes, until more funds are put in, there's not enough money for all the patients."

Fixing the problem is no easy task, but Dr Ahmad said it could be resolved with more funding and support for dentists, by paying NHS staff appropriately.

He added: "The government needs to decide what type of NHS dental service it wants to provide.

"If it wants to get patients dentally fit and with ongoing care, then it needs additional funds so there's enough care for every person in the country."