A FULL-TIME NHS dentist is being recruited in Darlington to man a health facility in the town centre.
The search has begun for a suitable candidate to operate from practices in the town until the Park Place centre is ready to open next year.
The initiative is a key element of plans to replace the ageing Park Place Health Centre.
A £50,000 dental suite will be developed to provide work including fillings, extractions, crowns and x-rays.
Work requiring a general anaesthetic will continue to be done in hospital.
The facility will be shared by the Community Dental Service, which cares for patients with special needs.
Darlington Primary Care Trust is also planning to buy equipment to enable dentistry to be carried out at home for those people who are housebound.
The trust's head of primary care, Lorraine Tostevin, said: "The trust has recognised that there is extensive demand for NHS dental treatment from the local population, and in some areas there is a problem around access to NHS dental treatment.
"There is strong evidence that local people would welcome an increase in both the accessibility and availability of NHS dental services."
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