Moray access to dental treatment set to improve with new NHS practice in Elgin
A new NHS dentist is to open in Elgin which should help to improve access for patients across Moray.
The new practice – 8 to 8 dental – is expected to open later in the year. Planning permission is currently being sought to operate in Elgin from a new property that’s been built on Lossiemouth Road.
Hiranya Fadia is the owner of 8 to 8 dental, which already had three other practices in Forres, Keith and Buckie, each committed to offering NHS care.
He thanked the Scottish Dental Access Initiative (SDAI) scheme for its backing, not just in terms of the latest practice, but also for its support over the years.
Hiranya said: “I would never have been able to launch our first squat practice in Buckie 11 years ago without them.
The grant letter was crucial in securing bank funding at that time. Now, thanks once again to SDAI and NHS Grampian, we are moving forward with our fourth project.”
Mike Brown, NHS Grampian’s director of dentistry, said: “Thanks to great support from our independent dental practitioners the access to NHS dentistry in Grampian has improved significantly in recent years with good availability across most of the region.
“Over the last year or so, following Scottish Government’s dental payment reform in November 2023, we have noticed an increase in dentists moving to the area which has led to several existing practices expanding.
“Across Grampian we have 47 practices taking on new NHS patients.
“While many of these are in Aberdeen City there is a good spread across the region with many able to register patients immediately.
“The pending opening of a new practice in Elgin will further improve availability in Moray.
“Clearly, if people are registered with a private dentist and happy with the service they get, they should remain there. However, people new to the area, or looking to move to an NHS practice should be aware there are lots of options available to them.”
A list of which practices are registering patients can be found here
