Plans could be put in place to have dental schools in Aberystwyth and Bangor as the Senedd called on the Welsh Government to increase the number of training places for dentists amid warnings about “dental deserts” across the country.

A cross-party debate on dentistry training, with the Conservatives and Lib Dems joining forces with Plaid Cymru to amplify concerns about poor access to services, heard from Health Minister Eluned Morgan that a “joint proposal from Aberystwyth and Bangor universities” to provide a dental school for mid and north Wales would be “encouraged.”

Sian Gwenllian said a shortage of dentists exacerbates Wales’ “three-tier” system, with none of the practices in her Arfon constituency taking on new NHS patients.

She said: “A three-tier system where some are fortunate to access an NHS dentist, others can pay to go privately and the third tier, unfortunately, are those who can't access NHS dentistry and can't afford to pay to go privately.

“I don't have to outline the problems that emerge for those in the third tier.

“Members are only too familiar with horrific stories about sepsis and do-it-yourself dentistry.”

Ms Gwenllian told the chamber a common-sense solution would be to increase the number of university training places.

“But, to the contrary, the government sets a cap on the number of places that can be provided in our only school of dentistry in Cardiff – an annual cap of 74 places,” she said.

“Having one school of dentistry in south Wales will never be sufficient to meet the needs of the whole country,” she said.

Sam Rowlands, the Conservatives’ shadow health secretary, said provision in north Wales is “simply not good enough” as he raised concerns about “dental deserts”.

He agreed that 74 places a year is not enough to plug the gap as he echoed calls for a “fully funded and fully functioning” dental school in his region.

Eluned Morgan told the 3 July debate that NHS dentistry has been a key priority since she became Wales’ health minister four years ago.

She said 500,000 people who had not received NHS dental care for more than four years have gained access since the reforms restarted in April 2022.

She said a second school would be the best option but warned it would mean “a great deal of investment and financial pressures don’t allow that at present.”

However, she “encouraged” a joint proposal from Aberystwyth and Bangor universities.