A dental practice has seen more than 3,000 patients already register less than seven weeks after opening – including people from Essex.

NHS England confirmed a new surgery was to be built at Minster, Sheppey, as another branch of the South Cliff Dental Group, and finished building in January this year.

The surgery, for both NHS and private patients, officially opened on May 9 at the site of former nightclub, Layzells, at The Broadway, and has already created more than 30 jobs.

Practice manager, Hannah Crane, insists the eight-surgery practice, which has seen an average of about 50 people register each day since opening, is already benefiting patients struggling with “the dentistry crisis in Kent.”

She is therefore urging more people to register as there are some on the Island in urgent need of a dental exam.

The 30-year-old said: “Currently we have 3,072 registered patients and are open seven days a week.

“However, patients will need to be aware we have to complete courses of treatment within a time period, so when we are fully booked up, there will be a little wait until we can free up diary space again.

“It is vital patients who register are booking in for their examinations, as we all know those slots are like gold dust.

“Any patients can register, and we have some from as far as Essex who have done so.

“We have a short wait, but most patients can be seen within the same week for examinations and fillings, as well as to see a hygienist.

“Dentists have a longer waiting time of around two months for denture work and crowns at the moment, as there is such a high demand.”

Figures from the British Dental Association (BDA) show the number of active NHS dentists in England dropped to 23,577 in 2022/23 – the lowest number in a decade,

Data commissioned by the Liberal Democrats earlier this year also found about 56% of children had not seen a dentist during the past year.

However, Miss Crane believes her new practice has all the facilities required to make it one of the best in the area – despite renovations to the front of the building still ongoing.

She says the new practice also has double the capacity of the nearby branch in Sheerness.

“We are staffed with two regular dentists and a locum dentist, plus four, soon-to-be five, dental therapists and a private hygienist,” she added.

“We also have 12 dental nurses and I am currently looking to recruit more.

“Our locum dentist is an implantologist who will be undertaking implant procedures from this summer onwards – consultations are already available and well underway.

“Our practice has state of the art equipment, with brand new surgeries and digital X-rays, as well as an OPG machine (a panoramic x-Ray of a person’s upper and lower jaw), plus step-free, disabled access and five patient toilets.”

She continued: “I am still looking for about five more members of staff nurses and receptionists.

“This is to cover full-time and part-time hours, as we are here to ensure all patients on the Isle of Sheppey have easy access to dental professionals, with slots available many days of the week for dental emergencies too.

“Our trainee nurses will all enrol into a course to become fully qualified - paid for by the company.

“We will therefore have a fully-qualified team of General Dental Council (GDC) registered nurses in the next few years.”