NHS dentistry in crisis as Briton are forced to pull their own teeth out

Britons have resorted to pulling teeth out with pliers and a bottle of spirits because of a “national crisis” in dentistry, an industry chief has warned.

Eddie Crouch, chair of the British Dental Association chair, said there are no “dental oases” in the country as millions of people struggle to access NHS surgeries.

He said: “Talk of ‘dental deserts’ might give the impression there are some ‘dental oases’ out there. There aren’t. We’re not looking at a few ‘hotspots’ but a national crisis affecting millions. But these eye-watering numbers don’t capture the human cost.

“I’ve met with people who’ve reached for pliers and a bottle of spirits when they couldn’t access care. In a wealthy 21st century nation, with supposedly ‘universal’ healthcare, this is an outrage.”

Four out of five dentists in England are not taking on new NHS patients, research released in December showed.

Health Secretary Wes Streeting has described part of the East of England as “the Sahara of dental deserts”.

He gave the title to Norfolk and Waveney, in Suffolk, as the state of dentistry in the east dominated the first session of health questions in the Commons after the July general election.

Adrian Ramsay, MP for Waveney Valley, said: “It’s often been said that we have the Sahara of dental deserts in East Anglia. This is the number one issue that people have been contacting me about and it’s because people just can’t get access to an NHS dentist. Some people can’t get access to a private dentist because they’re in such short supply.

“There’s not a single dentist in Norfolk taking on new NHS patients. It’s nearly as bad in Suffolk so people have been really struggling to get access to treatment.”

The co-leader of the Green Party told how a survey from last winter showed a quarter of locals had given up trying to seek treatment.

Meanwhile two thirds said they were forking out money for private dental care despite being unable to afford it.

He added: “There’s been harrowing stories of people resorting to pulling out their own teeth or their children being admitted to hospital because their tooth decay has become too bad. Some people have told us they drive hours to their dentists.”

Mr Ramsay, who uses an NHS dentist, called for a reform of dental contracts.

He said: “At the moment, dentists are not paid properly for the amount of work they do. It’s not based on the amount of work but more a set fee per patient. So over time, it becomes uneconomic for those dentists to stay in the NHS and that’s why we’ve seen a mass exodus.

“Any action that’s been taken to bring new dentists into the NHS is being outweighed by the number who are leaving so we need real action to bring back and retain dentists in the NHS. That starts with a reform of the dental contracts which the GOvernment has promised but it’s not set a clear timescale for.”

The Government has pledged to “rebuild NHS dentistry”, starting with an extra 700,000 emergency dentistry appointments.

A Department of Health and Social Care spokesman said: “We will also reform the dental contract to encourage more dentists to offer NHS services to patients.

“Prevention is better than cure, so we will also introduce supervised tooth brushing for three to five-year-olds. These changes are fundamental to us building an NHS that is fit for the future.”