HEALTH Minister Hazel Blears will praise dentists for helping to fill the gap in Rossendale, when she visits the Valley next week.
The MP will meet the team at the newly-built NHS dentist in Burnley Road, Rawtenstall, on Monday.
The practice was established in a bid to provide a dental service in the area.
Prior to it being built there were no dentists in Rossendale accepting new NHS patients, which left thousands of people without a dentist.
Prospective patients queued for hours in the cold during the four-day registration period and 7,000 were signed up in two weeks.
Hazel said the team had worked hard to provide a vital service in the valley.
Janet Anderson, Rossendale and Darwen MP, raised the problem in a parliamentary debate in November 2001, with Hazel Blears responding to the debate, expressing her hope that the situation would be rectified.
Janet Anderson said: "We are immensely grateful to Dr Morgan for displaying this commitment to the people of Rossendale and I am personally delighted that the Minister is able to spare the time to see for herself the excellent service he provides."
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