MONMOUTH MP David Davies has criticised figures, which show patients in Wales are twice as likely to wait over 18 weeks for dental surgery than those in England.

The figures, obtained from the House of Commons Library, show 28.7 per cent of people referred for oral surgery in Wales had been waiting for over 18 weeks as at March 2012, compared with 13.1 per cent across the border in England.

Mr Davies asked for the information after a receiving a complaint from a Chepstow woman.

The woman, who was suffering considerable pain caused by an impacted wisdom tooth, faced a five-month wait for an appointment despite referrals to Newport’s Royal Gwent Hospital by both her GP and dentist.

As a result her face was swollen and the tooth had become infected with an abscess so the woman felt she had no option but to pay to be treated privately.

The abscess later turned out to be on the tooth next to her wisdom tooth and was removed, but she is still waiting for an appointment with a consultant at the Royal Gwent Hospital to discuss her original problem.

Mr Davies criticised the Welsh Government for not doing enough to safeguard the NHS in Wales.

He said: "These latest figures are very plain for all to see and yet another example of the Welsh government failing to deliver the health service we deserve.

"It’s a disgrace that patients in Wales have to wait twice as long as patients in England for dental surgery and I will be writing to the health minister to demand an urgent explanation.

A spokesman for the Welsh Government said: "We cannot comment on individual cases. The target in Wales is for 95 per cent of patients to be waiting less than 26 weeks from referral to start of treatment, and the vast majority of patients in Wales are seen within this time.

"We expect all patients to be seen in order of clinical priority, and this is a decision made by the relevant consultant."