A dentistry summit will be held next month that aims to brings the right people together to have an open conversation about the scale of the challenges on dentistry in Cornwall.The focus of the event is to find practical solutions that will benefit Cornwall residents and was announced following a motion to Full Council in April this year.Leader of Cornwall Council, Cllr Leigh Frost said:“Lack of access to NHS dentistry is a longstanding problem in Cornwall.“It is frankly scandalous that people are travelling huge distances, sometimes outside Cornwall, for basic dental appointments. Parents are worrying about their children. Older people are struggling to get the care they need, and too many residents have become accustomed to living with pain.”The summit will take place on Friday, 17 July at Lys Kernow (County Hall) in Truro. It will consist of a question-and-answer session, followed by an expert panel discussion. Cornwall residents are invited to submit their questions prior to the event which will be asked on the day.The session will also be live streamed so that people can watch online and submit their questions in real time.Those invited to attend will include NHS partners, dental professionals, relevant training academies, political representatives and public health professionals.Cllr Frost added:“This is a complicated issue, and it is bigger than Cornwall. It will not be solved by us pretending there is a quick fix. But we’re not powerless either.“We can bring the right people together, have an open conversation about the scale of the challenge, and focus on finding practical solutions that will benefit our residents.”It is thought that the event will:Provide a clear, evidence-based account of the current position on dental access in Cornwall and the Isles of ScillyBuild a shared understanding across partners, members and the public of the scale of the challenge and the key constraintsClarify what is realistically deliverable locally, versus what sits at regional or national levelSupport a small number of practical, system-wide commitments and next stepsCllr Thalia Marrington, Cornwall Council Portfolio Holder for Community Safety and Public Health said:“By getting all the right people together we expect to be able to identify some of the key issues, such as why Cornwall struggles to attract dentists and what could be done to make it more attractive for them to stay after studying here.“By identifying what are local issues and which are national we can begin to work together to tackle some of the local ones and agree what can be done to influence national policy, all of which will go towards improving the services available for residents.“I’d like to encourage residents to think about their own experiences of accessing dental services in Cornwall to help shape the sorts of questions that need to be asked.”You can find out more and submit a question by visiting the Let’s Talk Cornwall page.Let's Talk Cornwall