People living in poorer areas across Scotland are less likely to have seen a dentist in the past two years, figures have revealed.

Scottish Labour has warned about the creeping inequality across dental care as figures showed that 45 per cent of people from the country's most deprived areas had seen a dentist since the start of the pandemic, compared to 56% of people in the wealthiest places.

Statistics published by Public Health Scotland also showed a stark contrast in dental visits for children in richer and poorer areas.

Only 55.3% of young people living in less affluent places have seen a dentist since September 2019, while 73.1% from wealthier areas had.

In November, The Herald reported that hundreds of dentists warned they would go fully private and stop NHS work if the Scottish Government axed its pandemic support.

READ MORE: Warning over NHS dentist exodus as 4 in 10 say they will go 'fully private'

A survey of practitioners found that 40% of dentists planned to opt out of NHS procedures altogether while the vast majority said they would curtail their health service funded work if Covid payments were stopped.

The number of NHS dental treatments carried out in Scotland during 2020/21 fell by 77.5 per cent compared to 2018/19, the last full financial year unaffected by coronavirus.

That equates to a 390,000 fewer procedures in children, and 3.3 million fewer for adults.

Scottish Labour deputy Jackie Baillie MSP has warned that there is a crisis unfolding and said the NSP had presided over a rise in dental inequality.

The Herald: Jackie Baillie MSP

The Dumbarton MSP said: "It is now clear that the SNP's catastrophic failure to support Scottish NHS dentists has led to a shocking rise in dental inequality.

"We know already that the very existence of NHS dentistry in Scotland is on the line, with the current funding model leading to privatisation by the backdoor, but now we have the proof that thousands of Scots have not been seen by dentists for years.

"That those from poorer backgrounds, particularly children, are less likely to have received treatment is nothing short of a national disgrace.

"This cannot be allowed to continue.

"Humza Yousaf must wake up to the crisis facing NHS dentistry before it reaches the point of no return.

“Dental care in Scotland cannot be allowed to become the privilege of the few who can afford to go private."

A Scottish Government spokesman said: "The Scottish Government is committed to tackling the pandemic-related backlog in routine dental care, and to ensuring dental teams see more patients face-to-face, including those from our most deprived communities.

"The Scottish Government has provided an additional £50 million and substantial amounts of free PPE, to ensure NHS dental services are well placed to care for the oral health of the whole population.

"From this month, we are providing dentists with an additional £20 million of increased fees. This latest package builds on £7.5 million funding for new dental drills and £5 million for ventilation improvements, which has a particular emphasis on children and tackling oral health inequalities."