Residents across the borough are being quoted thousands of pounds for vital dental treatment because they cannot get an NHS dentist or appointment.

The warning has been issued by Munira Wilson MP who said people are suffering in pain because dentists will not take on NHS patients.

By contrast these same dentists do have availability for people who go private with the associated punishing fees.

The Twickenham MP said Healthwatch Richmond has led the way in identifying a failure in the availability of affordable NHS services, which has been made worse by the pandemic.

Her concerns have been echoed by the Richmond Park MP, Sarah Olney, who said many residents 'are struggling to access critically important dental health appointments'.

Healthwatch Richmond found that almost half of people seeking NHS care (46%) were unable to book a routine appointment.

People who could pay privately were 16 times more likely to get routine dental care than those who relied on the NHS.

Alarmingly, one in three NHS patients were unable to access even urgent or emergency care, making them twice as likely as private patients to have to go without urgent or emergency care.

Patients are being told that although there are no NHS appointments available, they can choose to pay privately to receive care, creating a barrier for low income households who cannot afford the costs of treatment.

For example, one person for example was quoted £6,500 for private treatment that would have cost £280 on the NHS.

Ms Wilson told MPs this week: "Yes, the London borough of Richmond is a relatively affluent borough. That does not mean there isn't need or that everyone can afford to go to a private dentist.

"Our borough has the lowest funding in London – apart from the City of London – in terms of NHS dentistry, and Richmond Healthwatch's survey found that less than half of those who are seeking NHS care were able to get a routine appointment.

"And one in three couldn't even access urgent or emergency care. Yet private patients were 16 times more likely to be able to access treatment.

"So it is clearly not a problem with the supply of dentists. Those who needed to get treatment – if they were able and willing to pay – could access care within a week but hundreds of others just could not."

She said a mother in Hampton, who is disabled, had been unable to find a dentist for her daughter, who has special needs.

The MP said: "She was tearing her hair out. She had phoned scores of NHS dental practices and no-one would take her daughter.

"She said: 'I have to use my disability money, my heating money and my food money to pay £700 to help my daughter'.

"She is concerned, as so many other people are, with the cost of living crisis, with heating bills and food bills, and here she is having to pay for that care.

"Another recently retired individual, whose income has significantly dropped in retirement, say they ended up paying £1,000 for X-rays and the 30 second removal of an implant. And the second dentist she went to in Twickenham quoted £6,000 for the removal of a wobbly tooth and a replacement.

"This is simply not affordable, and it is unfair to say that affluent boroughs, such as Richmond, don't need additional NHS provision.

"Another resident wrote to me who did eventually get referred to hospital for emergency treatment months after they should have been treated…We know it is a false economy to restrict access to NHS care because people are ending up in A&E with far worse problems down the line which cost the NHS a lot of money."

She said the Lib-Dems are proposing that people should be entitled to an NHS dental plan with a minimum standard of service along with guarantees of access to check-ups, treatment and advice.