A former health facility in Glastonbury, providing residents with urgent access to dentists could be turned into a private house if plans are approved.

Peter Noblett of Hoghton, located between Preston and Blackburn in Lancashire, has applied to convert the former Glastonbury Dental Access Centre at the corner of High Street and Wells Road into a domestic dwelling.

The centre – which has been closed for a number of years – provided urgent treatment for patients in the Glastonbury area who were unable to access regular dental treatment. Mendip District Council is expected to make a ruling on the conversion proposals in the late spring. The property lies next to the Glastonbury Health Centre and a short distance from the SpaDental practice on Lambrook Street.

Mr Noblett intends for the property to have two bedrooms with a kitchen, lounge, bathroom and cloakroom, with a laundry room and storage space being provided on the ground floor.

The existing access from Wells Road will remain unchanged, with the applicant arguing that "given that this will be for domestic traffic, rather than dental client traffic, this should be considerably fewer vehicle movements than previously." Dental access centres provide dental treatment for patients who cannot reasonably access dental care through conventional routes – for instance, people who are unable to access emergency appointments through their local practice. The NHS currently operates three full-time dental access centres in Bridgwater, Taunton and Yeovil, with a further facility in Frome which operates three days a week. A fifth such facility in Wellington is currently closed for unspecified reasons. Somerset has struggled over the past two decades to recruit and retain NHS dentists, with health bosses stating in late January that persuading dentists to work in the county was "like trying to convince a turkey to vote for Christmas".

The problems have been blamed on a range of factors, including opportunities within private care, a lack of clear routes between training and joining a practice in Somerset, and the contract reforms brought in by the then-Labour government in 2006.

The district council is expected to make a ruling on the plans before the summer.