Dental campaigners in Suffolk have called for "urgent action" before NHS dentistry is "lost for good" as a report has called on the Government to do more and quickly.

The report by the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee comes after a BBC investigation last year revealed that NHS dental practices in Suffolk were not taking on any new adult NHS dental patients.

Nationally, eight in 10 NHS practices were not taking on new patients.

READ MORE: Toothless in Suffolk welcomes damning NHS dentistry report

The committee is currently examining the state of NHS dentistry and has received written evidence from more than 30 Healthwatch groups.

In June, a roundtable discussion was held, attended by campaigners from Toothless in Suffolk, which heard accounts of tooth extractions and isolation caused by poor oral health. 

Earlier this week, the EADT reported how the campaigners had welcomed the report.

Mark Jones, from Toothless in Suffolk, revealed the lack of NHS care in the county had forced a mother and daughter from Leiston to travel all the way to London for treatment - a round trip of more than 200 miles.

Mr Jones said: "What is being reported reflects what patients have been telling us for years. We've had a mother and daughter from Leiston tell us that they were being forced to travel the length of the A12 into London to be treated by an NHS dentist.

READ MORE: Why isn't more being done to solve Suffolk's dentist crisis?

"We know of a retired couple who moved from Scotland to Felixstowe and were left gobsmacked when they discovered that none of the town's dental practices were taking on NHS patients.

"It is indeed completely unacceptable in this day and age for anyone to be left to their own devices by the NHS, especially when young children and the vulnerable are involved. The government has known about these issues for years and years.

"The health minister must not dither any longer. Urgent action is needed before the death knell finally sounds and we lose NHS dentistry for good."