The plight of NHS patients without access to services in the City was highlighted by The Sentinel in January previously, when the mother of a young girl with an underlying medical condition was told to take her primary school aged daughter, who was in pain, to Limavady or Belfast for treatment.
Among those who has been campaigning for better dental provision for the City is DUP Alderman, William Hay, who welcomed news that up to six Spanish dentists will be employed primarily to relieve the pressure on the NHS waiting lists.
"I have had more people than enough coming to my office with serious complaints about lack of dental provision, and while I very much welcome the fact that dentists are to be employed, I think the Board needs to be adding to this as soon as possible.
"I understand that the new dentists will be working to clear the NHS backlog which is to be welcomed as I understand many people cannot get access to a dentist in the North West at all. Indeed, I spoke to a gentleman only the other evening who toured the entire City and could not get an NHS dentist, despite the fact he was in terrible pain. He had to go to Coleraine.
"I know people who have to travel 60, 70 or even 80 miles to get a dentist, even with children, and these are people who are among the most vulnerable in society, some of them existing on the breadline. This needs solved fast, and I hope the Board adds to the provision.
"It seems to me that many local dentists seem to be operating along the lines of private practice and are not really involving themselves in NHS work. It concerns me that local dentists don't seem to want to take any NHS patients on, adult or child, even if they are in severe pain, so I welcome the new appointments," he said.
A spokesperson for the Western Health and Social Care Board this week confirmed that the Board was striving to solve the shortage of NHS dental provision. However, despite being asked for the specific number of dentists, where they were from and how and where they would be deployed, they stopped short of disclosing specifics other than confirming that provision would be channelled through Oasis Dental Care.
The spokesperson said: "The Health and Social Care Board has been actively working with the Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety to increase the availability of health service dental services across Northern Ireland.
"The Minister, Mr Michael McGimpsey MLA, has already announced plans to provide extra health service dental services through a private dental care company, Oasis Dental Care, which will open surgeries at a number of new locations beginning in December 2009. The Board is currently working closely with Oasis on the introduction and development of this initiative, and more details will be announced in the near future."
She added: "The Health and Social Care Board stressed that the recruitment of appropriately qualified dentists to both existing and new dental services is subject to rigorous professional standards. All services are also monitored by the Board and by professional bodies to ensure that they offer patients safe and effective care."