Image source, Empics Image caption,

Some NHS dentists are moving to private practices because of low salaries, it has been claimed

By Scott Ellis

BBC Points West

A shortage of NHS dentists across the west means thousands of patients are no longer receiving treatment.

In one Bristol neighbourhood, the local dental practice is set to close at the end of June, leaving more than 7,000 people looking for alternatives.

Campaigners are now fighting to stop the closure of the Bupa Dental Health Care practice in St Paul's, and have vowed to protest outside every week.

The government said hundreds of new dentists have recently been recruited.

Some patients at the St Paul's practice say they have been told there are no NHS dental places available in Bristol, and the nearest ones are in Chippenham, Wiltshire, or Chepstow, across the River Severn.

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Dentist Gaye Herford said some of her patients had been in tears during appointments

Gaye Herford, the lead NHS dentist in St Paul's, has worked in the area since 1995.