A mobile dental clinic will return to two Suffolk towns to provide further treatment for those struggling to access an NHS dentist as campaigners say services are "worsening by the hour".

Dentaid’s mobile clinic will arrive at Leiston’s Waterloo Centre on Wednesday, May 18, before crossing the county to the New Bury Community Centre in Bury St Edmunds the following day.

The charity spent four days in Leiston and Bury St Edmunds in November 2021 and February 2022. During that time, 163 patients required treatment.

Steve Marsling, co-founder of action group Toothless in Suffolk, obtained sponsorship from local councillors in Leiston to help finance Dentaid’s return. Similar arrangements were also made in Bury St Edmunds.

He said: “The NHS dental service is worsening by the hour. We call upon the government to end the betrayal.”

Treatment will be free of charge and volunteer dentists will provide essential healthcare from 10am to 4pm. It will be available for anyone in pain and in need of extractions or fillings.

Leiston has not had an NHS practice since April 2021.

In February, NHS England and NHS Improvement announced plans for new practices in Norwich, King’s Lynn and Lowestoft, but not the East Suffolk town.

Data published in January revealed there had been at least a 27% decrease in NHS dentists across Suffolk since 2020, with the Department of Health ranking the West Suffolk Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) as the joint third-worst affected in England.

Chair of the British Dental Association, Eddie Crouch, has called for urgent action from the government, saying: "Millions are going without the care they need, while exhausted dentists call it quits.

"What patients need from ministers now is some sense of urgency, and a real commitment to save a service on the brink."

This year, Toothless in England, the hub for all ‘Toothless’ campaign groups, is planning a National Day of Action which will see patients across the country protest and lobby against MPs and government ministers.

A spokesperson for the Department of Health and Social Care said: "We've given the NHS £50 million to fund up to 350,000 extra dental appointments and we are expanding the dentistry workforce so more people can get the oral support they need.

"We have been working with the sector to safely increase activity and practices are now expected to deliver 95% of the activity they were delivering before the pandemic, which also includes taking on new patients."