A Buckie councillor has welcomed the end of an era when people in the town seeking NHS dental care had to travel to Elgin or Huntly.
Councillor Gordon McDonald was speaking after a dental practice opened in December revealed that they had already registered over 2800 new patients.
The ‘8to8 Dental’ surgery was the result of 15 months work by Hiranya Fadia and his wife Dorothy Sinclair, who after running surgeries in Australia and Mr Fadia working for four years as part of an NHS practice in Huntly decided to open the new surgery in Buckie.
“I think it is long overdue – Buckie has been needing an NHS dentist,” Councillor McDonald said, adding: “A lot of people from the town have been going out to Huntly and Elgin and other places just to get dental care.
“At the moment we have only one private practice, while the NHS is limited in this area and there is only one out at the hospital which deals mainly with children.
“It is six full-time jobs plus two dentists coming in to Buckie and that in itself is a boost for the area.”
Mr Fadia said that everything had gone to plan although it had had been a long journey of 15 months from start to finish in setting up the practice. He said: “We have had an overwhelming response from patients – we look forward to serving Buckie and the surrounding area.”
Mr Fadia added that the practice is still taking on new NHS patients at the practice which is based at 30 West Church Street. Further details including a registration form can be found online at http://www.8to8dental.co.uk.