CHILDREN are forced to travel to Oxford in search of the perfect smile.

A national shortage in specialist dentists means that there is no-one able to do the work on the NHS in Swindon.

Youngsters instead face a 70-mile round trip to Oxford, where the work is done by dentists employed by the John Radcliffe Hospital.

The problem was raised by Coun Bob Wright at a meeting of a borough scrutiny committee last week.

He said that he had received a letter from the father of a 14-year-old boy who needed to travel to Oxford regularly for work to correct a molar.

“The complainant has said they cannot afford to take time off work on a regular basis to support their child that distance and for the length of time,” said Coun Wright.

He said that the Oxford trips were having a financial impact on families.

Coun Wright said: “They’re not complaining about the treatments. The treatments have been wonderful. It’s the fact they have to travel for advanced dentistry when we seem to have the equipment in Swindon but not the personnel.”

Statistics published earlier this year showed that there has been a significant rise in the number of dentists providing NHS care in the town: from 72 in 2011/12 to 106 in 2016/17.

However, according to Swindon health chiefs, the number trained in children’s orthodontics is small. Specialist orthodontists are able to carry out work to correct the position of teeth.

Kevin McNamara, strategy director for Great Western Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, told councillors: “The orthodontists who specialise in children are very hard to recruit. They’re few and far between, hence why we have to end up putting some of these specialist services towards Oxford or Bristol.”

A spokesman for the GWH trust added: “In recent years, a high local demand, coupled with a national shortage of specialist staff, has put pressure on the orthodontic service at the Great Western Hospital.

“To ensure that children who urgently needed treatment could continue to receive timely care, we made the decision temporarily stop accepting new referrals.

“Unfortunately, this has meant some patients have had to be seen elsewhere, which we know has not been an ideal situation for some families.

“However, we now have plans to work with our colleagues in Oxford to jointly recruit an orthodontic specialist, which could mean patients returning to GWH at some point in 2018.”

Dental care is commissioned by NHS England and delivered through GWH and high street orthodontists.

A spokeswoman said: “There is currently a national shortage of orthodontic consultants, making it difficult to recruit new members staff. “The hospital has considered a number of different ways to attract orthodontists, including working closely with other NHS providers and are currently seeking to fill vacant posts. “Great Western Hospital continues to treat those patients already in treatment, this is in addition to patients in treatment with our high street orthodontic practices.”