A report has been launched to make the case for a dental school in Bangor.

Siân Gwenllian, the Member of the Senedd for Arfon, commissioned research from Lafan Consulting to support her vision of establishing a dental school as part of Bangor University.

The school is part of her broader plan to transform Bangor into a national centre of excellence for medical education.

The launch event at Bangor University featured testimonials from university figures, the local health board, a Cardiff first-year dental student, and the consulting company that carried out the research.

Ms Gwenllian's call for a dental school in Bangor stems from a growing dental crisis and the inability of many of her constituents to access services.

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She said: "Individuals and children who wish to see a dentist for treatment or an examination under the NHS find that to be an almost impossible task in the Arfon constituency.

"I am inundated with cases of constituents failing to access services.

"The lack of NHS provision means that an increasing number of people and children are suffering unnecessary pain, turning to inappropriate methods of pain relief, and in the most serious cases turn to the emergency departments of our hospitals for help, creating a work and financial burden that could be avoided by preventing the problem from developing in the first place, or at least starting the treatment in a timely manner."

The report, titled 'Filling the Gaps: The case for training dentists in Bangor', was attended by dentists, academics, healthcare leaders in north Wales, and politicians.

Ms Gwenllian, who successfully campaigned for a medical school for Bangor, hopes the report's findings will put pressure on the Welsh Government to start training dentists at Bangor University.

She said: "My argument is that here in the north, at Bangor University, a new dental school should be established for the whole of Wales.

"As well as providing more dentists with a proportion likely to remain in the local area, the Bangor Dental School would be an important addition to the city’s role as a centre of excellence in health training which includes the new North Wales Medical School which I campaigned for successfully."