DENTAL care campaign group Toothless in Suffolk, in conjunction with Toothless in England, is to stage two protests this week highlighting the dire state of NHS provision.

A protest will be held outside Endeavour House in Ipswich tomorrow from noon and a rally will take place outside Leiston Co-op at 10.30am on Saturday to mark the fourth anniversary of the campaign, which began after the town lost its last NHS dental practice.

Toothless in England said it had repeatedly called for the reinstatement of mothballed dental clinics, the recommissioning of mobile dental clinics and for oral health needs assessments to be conducted to identify and target those most at risk and underserved.

But the suggestions had “fallen on deaf ears,” said campaign founder Mark Jones.

“The ICB [integrated care board], regrettably, remains closed to the idea of patient advocacy groups such as Toothless in Suffolk having any positive influence whatsoever in their decision-making,” he added.

“As a result, access to NHS dentistry continues to be a postcode lottery, out of reach for tens of thousands of men, women and children.”