Britons using pliers to pull teeth amid ‘dental desert’ crisis | Politics | News

Around five million people in England do not have a dentist, figures have revealed

Some 140,526 people needed treatment in a month but did not have their own dentist and were unable to access NHS dental care, a Liberal Democrat analysis of ONS Health Insight Survey showed.

Of these patients, more than 1,500 went to A&E but the majority of patients – 79.7% or 111,999 – reported that they were unable to receive the treatment they needed.

The Liberal Democrat’s health spokeswoman Helen Morgan MP said: “As more and more patients are forced to perform dangerous DIY dentistry, it’s like pulling teeth trying to get ministers to take the action we need.

“The crisis in NHS dentistry cannot be allowed to continue – the government must act urgently to bring dentistry back from the brink.

“The new government must not repeat the mistakes of the Conservatives that created swathes of dental deserts up and down the country.”

Britons have resorted to pulling teeth out with pliers and a bottle of spirits because of a “national crisis” in dentistry.

Eddie Crouch, chair of the British Dental Association chair, previously told the Express 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.”

The NHS provided 4.7million fewer courses of dental treatment last year than 2019-20 and only 40% of adults in England saw a dentist in the two years to this March – down from the 49% who did so pre-pandemic, the National Audit Office found in a report last month.

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

Sir Keir Starmer also promised to start supervised toothbrushing at schools.

Their announcements followed a damning report by the Commons Health and Social Care committee in July which found that extractions have been performed with pliers in some cases, while others have been forced to make a five-hour round trip to see a professional.

The committee said “urgent and fundamental reform” is needed to stop cases of pain and distress that are “totally unacceptable in the 21st century”.

A spokesman for the Department for Health and Social care said: “NHS dentistry is broken after years of neglect and has failed patients and staff for too long.

“It is unacceptable that patients are being forced to take matters into their own hands because they were unable to get an appointment.

“This government is committed to rebuilding dentistry, but it will take time. We will start with an extra 700,000 urgent dentistry appointments to help those who need it most, and reform the dental contract to encourage more dentists to offer NHS services to patients.”