Evening dental appointments will be available from next week.
The region has been hit by a number of dental practices either closing or de-registering NHS patients in recent months, with a special task force set up in a bid to tackle the problem.
Funding from unfilled posts is now being used by the public dental service (PDS) to allow a small number of patients to be seen in Dumfries and Newton Stewart in the evenings as part of a pilot programme.
Director of dentistry, Alison Milne, said: “NHS Dumfries and Galloway is acutely aware of the current challenges surrounding access to NHS dental services in the region, in line with the rest of the country.
“A reallocation of funding has now been approved within the PDS, but while this may help unlock a little extra capacity, the additional money does not mean additional staffing.
“Instead, the funding is supporting an adapted model which allows existing staff to work differently, adding some additional clinics during evenings. This modest additional capacity is planned to come online next week delivering clinics out of Dumfries and Newton Stewart.”
The move has been welcomed by MSP Finlay Carson, who recently highlighted his concerns on NHS dentistry to Public Health Minister Jenni Minto.
But he is calling for the extra surgeries to be available across the region.
He said: “There should be no need for patients to have to travel great distances for treatment. Why should someone in Stranraer have to drive 75 miles to Dumfries when it can and should be done more locally?”
Ms Milne said the evening sessions are “far from being a solution” to the issues and that there is “limited” potential to expand it further unless more dentists are found.
It is thought as many as 18,000 patients were de-registered from NHS lists in the first three months of the year – although Ms Minto claimed 5,000 new patients were taken on over the same period.
People who do not have an NHS dentist but require emergency treatment should call the public dental service on 0845 602 6417.
