A Carmarthen dental practice has announced it will no longer provide NHS treatment and has blamed unachievable targets and rising costs as reasons.

Hayden Dental in Castle Hill has become the third west Wales dentist in recent weeks to announce it will stop treating people on the NHS later this year.

Bosses at Hayden Dental said they had made the difficult decision to return their general dental services (NHS) contracts to Hywel Dda University Health Board on December 31. It means that from January 1 next year, the practice will no longer be providing NHS dental care to patients. You can get more story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.

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Last month, the MyDentist practices in St John Street in Whitland and Quay Street in Haverfordwest said they were also ending NHS care. However, Hayden Dental will provide any urgent care which patients require until December 31 and will ensure completion of any treatment commenced before that date.

The health board will provide patients who had previously received NHS dental care from Hayden Dental with information about their ongoing care, and the options available to them while Hywel Dda works to find a new service provider for the area.

In a statement, Hayden Dental said: "Please know that we have done our utmost as a practice and as individuals over many years to try to shape the new NHS dental contract to the benefit of all our patients. We have participated as a practice with the Health Board in NHS Dental Contract Reform Pilot Schemes since we took over the practice in 2013.

"We took on an NHS dental practice and always intended to provide that service to local families. However, our team of dentists have always been clear that they are unwilling to compromise on the level and quality of care they are able to provide to their patients. We have reached a time where the combination of unachievable targets, rising costs, and lack of access is forcing us to make a decision to protect our excellent care provision.

"So, with the support of our team, and like many dental practices across the UK, we are now taking the difficult decision to move away from NHS dentistry."

Jill Paterson, Hywel Dda's director of primary care, community and long-term care said: “The health board would like to thank patients for the support that they have given to the practice over the years and appreciate the impact that this will have on the local population. The health board is working to find a long-term solution which secures this important service for the area as soon as possible.”

Following the termination of NHS contracts, patients who are experiencing dental pain should contact 111 to access an urgent access appointment which is available 7 days a week. NHS patients affiliated with Hayden Dental can contact the health board by emailing HDHB.Dental.hdd@wales.nhs.uk or by telephoning 0300 303 8322, choosing extension four, to be put on a holding list for the new practice once the service is in place.

Patients are asked to refrain from calling alternative dental practices in the area at this time, as these are experiencing an overwhelming volume of calls. The same advice was given in September for patients of the Whitland and Haverfordwest dental practices.

For information on how to access NHS dental care at another practice, visit the Hywel Dda website here, or contact the health board's dental services team by emailing HDHB.Dental.hdd@wales.nhs.uk

The end of NHS care at these three practices is the latest blow to dentistry in west Wales. Earlier this year, Hywel Dda announced that the dental surgery in Llandeilo Road in Cross Hands would stop treating NHS patients. Meanwhile, in March, the state of dental care in Carmarthenshire was highlighted in the Senedd after a Freedom of Information request revealed that more than 3,464 residents in the Llanelli and Llandeilo areas were on the waiting list for an NHS dentist.

Cefin Campbell, Plaid Cymru MS for Mid and West Wales said: “This latest announcement again highlights the growing dental crisis we’re facing in Carmarthenshire – and follows a similar trend we’ve seen emerge over recent months at Llandeilo, Cross Hands and Whitland.

"This emerging rural dentistry crisis is an issue I have raised time after time with the Welsh Labour Government in the Senedd – and as the cost-of-living crisis continues to bite, the prospect of having to go private will rightly be a strain for many residents – creating a vicious circle, with likely detriment to oral health and wellbeing.”

And Adam Price, MS for Carmarthen East and Dinefwr, said: “The previous two years have seen numerous dental practices in Carmarthenshire hand back NHS contracts.

"The feedback from providers is clear - there are still significant issues in the volumetric and clawback aspects of contract reform. This, paired with service pressures post-Covid pandemic, has forced many practices to re-evaluate the viability of taking on NHS contracts. Myself and other Plaid Cymru Senedd members have made it clear to the Welsh Government that change must be enacted to prevent a complete lack of provision across rural Wales.”